Floridians who criticize their public officials should not have to fear armed state agents knocking at their front door.
But that’s what happened to a Tampa Bay couple who sent a postcard to the state’s chief financial officer. Their three-word message to CFO Blaise Ingoglia was pointed but not threatening. It said: “You lack values” and was signed by James O’Gara, who is active in progressive political causes with his wife, Cathy.
What followed is a chilling example of the growing climate of political intimidation in this state.
Orlando Sentinel state capital reporter Jeffrey Schweers broke the story of how two state agents harassed a suburban couple after they sent a postcard that mildly criticized CFO Blaise Ingoglia.
A few weeks later, as the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeffrey Schweers reported, two men with guns strapped to their hips knocked on the O’Garas’ door the morning of Oct. 1.
They were wearing bulletproof vests with POLICE stenciled on them, but no agency name was visible. They said they wanted to talk to the O’Garas, who were getting ready to take their granddaughter to school.
‘They started right off’
“They started right off with, ‘Did you send a postcard?’ They showed a picture of it, asked if this was it. They didn’t give a reason why they were there,” O’Gara said of the visit by the two men from the Department of Financial Services.
DFS is part of the CFO’s agency responsible for protecting taxpayers by investigating insurance fraud, among other things.
As the 77-year-old O’Gara engaged them in conversation, things got scarier.
One agent made a casual reference to O’Gara’s military service, making it clear the couple had been investigated. After the men left and Cathy O’Gara took her granddaughter to school, she saw two black SUVs parked on her street.
Florida CFO Blaise Ingoglia speaks to reporters in Orlando on Aug. 5, 2025. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel)
The state will not explain why Ingoglia, a politician who is known for a swaggering style, felt threatened by these two senior citizens.
Anybody researching them would discover two people passionate about politics but of no physical threat to anyone.
That makes the statement by DFS spokeswoman Sydney Booker laughable.
“With political violence on the rise, ensuring the security of public figures and maintaining public safety is increasingly important,” Booker said. “While it is unfortunate that law enforcement must sometimes go the extra mile to ensure public safety, let it be known that it is a direct result of an increasingly hostile political environment.”
Straight-up harassment
Baloney. This frightening visit seems more of a case of straight-up harassment of people who dare to disagree with Ingoglia.
The unelected CFO owes the O’Garas an apology. Then he owes an explanation to the people of Florida as to why he chose to intimidate this family.
What made the postcard a threat? How many others have been investigated? How much did this ridiculous exercise cost? Will it happen again?
The questions are relevant because Ingoglia has anointed himself Florida’s supreme arbiter of waste, fraud and abuse. He has gone city to city (including to Pembroke Pines), accusing local leaders of wasting tax dollars, as measured by a bogus calculation that compares their current spending with their pre-COVID budgets.
At most stops, Ingoglia has failed to point out specific significant overspending.
He mocked the placement of a hologram of Jacksonville’s mayor at the city’s airport. He viciously tore into Orlando’s poet laureate program. He accused Broward County of overspending by $170 million but questioned only $1.1 million — and got his facts wrong, the county claims.
How much did this cost?
It is valid to ask how much money Ingoglia wasted with the agents’ early-morning visit to the O’Gara home in Largo. A state employee database shows that DFS officers are paid between $63,000 and $111,000 a year.
This money was spent to intimidate and silence people whose only crime was in expressing their dislike of him.
It failed miserably — as an avalanche of contemptuous response to this stunt has proved.
Like all Americans, the O’Garas have the right and perhaps the responsibility to speak truth to power, just like comedian Jimmy Kimmel, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and others who have been threatened by the powers that be.
We’re proud when people take a stand in the face of such threats — and hope you are too.
If you’re angry about what happened here, don’t be afraid to speak up. Put it on a postcard.
Ingoglia, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier behave as if they have a monopoly on belittling and bullying political opponents.
It takes courage to protest, which is why leaders think they can crush opposition through blunt acts of intimidation.
The O’Garas are right: When it comes to free speech, you lack values, Mr. Ingoglia.
The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman, and Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.
Originally Published: October 13, 2025 at 9:41 AM EDT