The New York Times clapped back Monday at Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s demand for six years of internal documents on the publication’s editorial practices.
“We are aware of the demand letter, which, while positioned as a request under corporate law, is a clear attempt to chill First Amendment-protected journalism,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, the newspaper’s senior vice president for communications, told Politco. “We will respond more fully in due course.”
Uthmeier, who is running for re-election, sends demand letters regularly to major entities in the U.S., pursuing a conservative agenda. He has targeted the NFL, Major League Baseball, Target and other U.S. institutions. His 28-page letter to the Times accuses it of “editorial malpractice” and says it could result in litigation and hurt Florida retirees.
Florida’s State Board of Administration, which oversees the state’s pension fund, owns about 160,000 shares of New York Times stock. Uthmeier, as the board’s general counsel, said in his letter he would sue the Times in New York Supreme Court if it didn’t capitulate to his demands.
Uthmeier is seeking internal board documents, meeting notes and reports “to see what the directors knew.”
“The First Amendment protects what a newspaper publishes, but it does not let public companies’ boards ignore its shareholders,” Uthmeier said in a video posted to X.
Uthmeier, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in January 2025, sued Target three days after taking office, alleging the retailer committed securities fraud by concealing marketing risks of its 2023 LGBTQ+ Pride campaign and corporate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. Target sought to dismiss the lawsuit but a federal judge denied the motion.
Uthmeier said the Times admitted to 72 errors in its coverage of the Israel-Hamas War between October 2023 and June 2024. “Many, if not most, of those errors favored Hamas,” Uthmeier contended.
Uthmeier also said, without providing evidence, that a Times column about Palestinian prisoners being raped by Israel was false. The newspaper has stood by the story.
The attorney general also took on the WNBA on Aug. 8 after he took offense at a foul against WNBA star Sophie Cunningham, who has been championed in conservative circles lately for her comments pushing back on transgender athletes in women’s sports. “The WNBA knows better than to play games down here in Florida, because I’ll be charging people with assault,” Uthmeier posted on X.
Uthmeier received praise in August from President Donald Trump, who heralded the attorney general as the man behind the now-closed Alligator Alcatraz immigration detention center. The DeSantis administration committed $1 billion in taxpayer money to the facility.
A Miami Herald investigation in July found that Uthmeier has intervened in court cases after receiving campaign donations from a developer and car dealership owner.
Uthmeier’s opponent, Miami attorney Jose Javier Rodriguez, said in an interview this August with USA TODAY Network-Florida that the attorney general has misused his office in pursuing a partisan agenda. “The only reason he does something is for money, or a quick, cheap headline, or both,” Rodriguez said. “That explains everything that he does.”
John Pacenti is the Government Impact Reporter for The USA TODAY NETWORK-FLORIDA. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://palmbeachpost.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Florida AG goes after New York Times in attempt to ‘chill First Amendment’
Reporting by John Pacenti, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Florida Today
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By John Pacenti, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida | USA TODAY Network
