The Tennesse car crash involving four vehicles in Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s motorcade has revealed that his campaign has misused government vehicles by using cars owned by the state of Florida in his presidential run, a report claims. The crash that took place on Tuesday as the campaign team was travelling to fundraisers in three cities in the state shows how the campaign is using state resources, but it remains almost impossible to discover who’s funding it after a new law passed by the Florida legislature to shield Mr DeSantis’s travel records from the public, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The research director for nonprofit government watchdog Integrity Florida, Ben Wilcox, told the paper: “The legislature has enabled him to hide his travel records so we don’t know and have no way to hold him accountable if he is using state resources in his campaign or if that is even the case”. Orlando Democratic state representative Anna Eskamani told the paper that “It’s absurd that he’s using public resources and public infrastructure to campaign. He’s using state resources to boost himself politically”. The crash took place as the campaign was heading to a fundraiser when an accident further ahead caused traffic to slow down. A Tennessee Highway Patrol officer heading the motorcade stopped short, and the cars behind the officer rear-ended each other, according to Chattanooga Police. “If the accident hadn’t been reported, we wouldn’t have known otherwise about the use of state vehicles,” Ms Eskamani added. “It makes you wonder how often state vehicles and public employees are being used at out-of-state campaign events.” One DeSantis staffer was treated on the scene of the crash for minor injuries. There were no further injuries, police said. Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) agents were also involved in the accident. Police said all the vehicles in the crash were government-owned. FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger told the paper: “We’ve never answered questions about our protective operations assets (number of agents used, vehicles etc.)” The federal campaign finance report filed on 15 July covering the three months leading up to 30 June doesn’t include any payments to FDLE for travel or security. The report states that $76,256 were spent on private security. The DeSantis campaign has recently been in the news for spending large amounts without much to show for it, and recently laying off 38 people – a third of the campaign staff. Travel and staffing appear to be large expenses for the campaign as Mr DeSantis has been reported to be travelling with a larger group of staffers compared to other candidates. The campaign had raised $20m as of 30 June and they had spent $8.2m – more than a million on payroll and almost as much on travel – $896,000. Mr DeSantis is reported to prefer to fly in private jets provided by a number of top donors, the Sentinel notes. Since the start of his gubernatorial re-election campaign last year, there have been questions about whose private jets he’s using and if they’re reported as in-kind contributions or gifts. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a sitting governor run for [president],” Mr Wilcox told the paper. The director of public access for the Florida Center for Government Accountability, Michael Barfield, told the paper that “at the end of the day, taxpayers don’t know what their money is being spent on”. He added that the group is considering its next legal steps. “We’re questioning the validity of the exemption,” Mr Barfield said. “We don’t think it meets a public purpose, so we will brainstorm about potential legal action.” Ms Eskamani said the legislature could repeal the public records exemption, but that “It would take a political will that doesn’t exist, even for something as nonpartisan as access to travel records”. The Independent has reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment. Read More A new challenger has emerged to Trump – and his extreme anti-woke message is working DeSantis cornered on his Bud Light boycott after threatening legal action over stock drop Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Disney’s efforts to neutralize governing district takeover Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Disney’s efforts to neutralize governing district takeover DeSantis questioned about his Bud Light boycott after complaining about stock drop Trump calls additional charges in Jack Smith’s superseding indictment ‘harassment’

Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s revenue missed estimates, signaling an uneven recovery for the world’s biggest internet arena as it

Alongside the moving tribute, Abigail Breslin requested people not to spread rumors surrounding Evan Ellingson's death out of respect for his family

Logan Paul almost destroyed his own career by uploading a vlog of his visit to Japan's infamous Aokigahara Forest

The dangers of artificial intelligence (AI) spreading harmful misinformation were made clear once again on Monday, when local fire service officials were forced to confirm there had not been an ‘explosion’ at the Pentagon in Virginia – despite an AI-generated image appearing to suggest there had been. The main image, shared by several fake accounts with blue tick ‘verification’, depicts black smoke billowing close to the Pentagon building, with another showing a distant photo of smoke next to the US defence department headquarters. Stating that the reports are unfounded, the Arlington Fire and Emergency Medical Services Twitter account wrote: “[The Pentagon Force Protection Agency] and the ACFD [Arlington County Fire Department] are aware of a social media report circulating online about an explosion near the Pentagon. “There is NO explosion or incident taking place at or near the Pentagon reservation, and there is no immediate danger or hazards to the public.” Fortunately, while paid-for blue tick accounts have been promised greater promotion on Twitter, a search for ‘Pentagon’ on the social media network brings up a string of tweets from ‘unverified’ accounts debunking the AI image: Stocks reportedly tanked following the fake image, and it isn’t the first time that’s happened, either. The pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly saw a sudden drop last year when an imposter tweeted “insulin is free”. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter And if tricksters aren’t targeting the Pentagon with AI-generated imagery, then they’re using the software to create pictures of the Pope in a puffer jacket and former US President Donald Trump being arrested. In fact, it was only last month that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York representative, warned of “major potential harm” at the hands of fake AI images. “Jokes aside, this is setting the stage for major potential harm when a natural disaster hits and no one knows what agencies, reporters, or outlets are real. “Not long ago we had major flash floods. We had to mobilize trusted info fast to save lives. Today just made that harder,” she said. It seems we’re there already… Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

By Raphael Satter and Christopher Bing WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The FBI has sabotaged a suite of malicious software used by elite

Across the planet, animals and the diseases they carry are shifting locations as temperatures rise thanks to climate change

Argentina’s President-elect Javier Milei met Tuesday with senior Biden administration officials at the White House

It’s Day 4 of the U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting that brings world leaders together at U.N. headquarters in New York

Damian Lillard has asked the Portland Trail Blazers for a trade, a move that will end the seven-time All-Star’s tenure with that team, according to two people familiar with the matter

A serving member of the British Army awaiting trial on terror charges escaped from prison in London on Wednesday, the city's Metropolitan Police said.

Leaders meeting in Delhi issue an ambiguous statement on the conflict, drawing criticism from Kyiv.