Democratic National Committee Chairwoman and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schutlz (FL) on Thursday denied a report that her office allegedly offered to switch her position on medical marijuana if a Florida donor took back criticism of her.
“I wouldn’t change my position in exchange for support under any circumstances —ever,” the Florida congresswoman told the Florida Sun-Sentinel. “I stand on principle. I’m always very proud to stand in front of my constituents and explain when I have a difference of opinion with them.”
Wasserman Schultz’s denial comes in response to a report in Politico that the Florida congresswoman’s office offered to switch her position on medical marijuana (from opposition to support) if influential Orlando trial lawyer John Morgan retracted critical statements he made of her. Morgan declined the offer through an email exchange with Wasserman Schultz’s office, in which he said the congresswoman had been in a “tizzy.”
Morgan shared the email exchange with Politico to show that Wasserman Schultz had been, in Morgan’s words in a phone interview, “thin-skinned.”
Morgan funded a medical-marijuana initiative in 2014, which narrowly failed. When news broke that Wasserman Schultz was exploring a possible U.S. Senate run in 2016, Morgan, and a trio of organizations advocating legalizing medical marijuana use, criticized Wasserman Schultz for her opposition to last year’s initiative.
Wasserman Schultz explained her opposition to the 2014 initiative to the Sun Sentinel on Friday.
“I was worried that it wasn’t going to be covering only the people for whom it was intended,” she said.