Iowa officials are pushing back against an NBC report claiming that Gov. Ron DeSantis touted Florida's efforts to help in the recovery of the Davenport building collapse despite being told his assistance wasn't "needed."
NBC News published a report last week claiming that DeSantis publicly "bragged" on Twitter about sending help to the "politically important state" of Iowa 10 hours after officials there told him that the mission had been canceled and that they would no longer require Florida's assistance.
But the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management seemingly contradicted NBC's reporting in a statement obtained by Florida's Voice on Monday, stating that Florida's personnel members actually arrived at the scene before the last missing person was found. The statement also thanked Florida for the "incredible expertise their team provided."
"The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is grateful for the rapid response from Florida and the incredible expertise their team provided in the wake of unprecedented circumstances," the statement read.
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On the evening of June 3, Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds sent requests to Florida and Wisconsin for help in the recovery effort after the six-building story tragically collapsed on May 28, killing three.
Florida offered to send personnel to Davenport by 3:00 p.m. the next day, the Florida outlet reported. Iowa accepted the offer around 4:00 p.m. and just before midnight on June 4, a member of Florida's rescue team arrived in Davenport. A second member arrived shortly thereafter, "just hours before the last missing person had been found," the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management told the outlet.
After the last missing person was recovered on June 5, Florida was reportedly notified to "pause further deployment of personnel to Iowa due to the changed circumstances on the ground."
The two Florida personnel who had already arrived were reportedly asked by the Davenport fire chief to remain in Iowa to support incident operations until June 7, "providing specialized expertise on next steps as the response and recovery operations moved into its next phase," according to Florida's Voice.
Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis’ press secretary, accused reporter Matt Dixon, who co-authored the NBC story, of lying "by omission" and knowingly publishing "a lie" by suggesting that the mission was canceled and that DeSantis "boasted" about sending Florida personnel.
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Redfern shared an email from the Florida Division of Emergency Management on Twitter informing Florida officials that Iowa's request for assistance had been modified. The state asked that additional personnel not be deployed, but added that Iowa would still accept any help from Florida personnel currently in the state or "en route for operational periods."
A separate email from Eric Sanchez, an emergency response official with the city of Miami which was cited in the NBC report, shows him responding to news of the request modification with the words "copy on the mission being canceled."
"As I explained to Jeff, I have two of my guys already flying out there," Sanchez added. "We are in agreement that they will arrive and get in touch with the POC over there to find out if they have any immediate needs. At that point, if there is nothing else, we will coordinate to bring them back."
The email was included in the NBC report to purportedly show that DeSantis "boasted" about Florida's role in deploying personnel on Twitter despite his officials, like Sanchez, confirming that they understood the modification had occurred.
Redfern accused NBC of misrepresenting the modification request and deliberately omitting the fact that for Florida, it merely meant that Iowa would accept help from Florida personnel en route or already on site, just not new deployments.
"This is a lie by omission from @Mdixon55. He knew it was a lie, and he published the lie. Iowa modified the mission. Just because a mission was modified does not mean the entire mission was canceled," Redfern tweeted.
"Iowa asked for assistance," he added, "and Florida responded."
The Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
