Florida Republican Scandals | Updated List of GOP Scandals in FL

Florida Republican U.S. Congress Member & Candidate Scandals
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3/05/22
Broke security protocols by sharing live images of a briefing U.S. Representatives & Senators had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy despite being asked not to share any posts or images until the meeting had concludedAccording to reporting by NBC News & other media outlets -
Augustus Sol InvictusFmr. U.S. Senate Candidate
1/10/25
Lit a fire with the intent of criminally intimidating counter-protesters who were challenging him and his racist companions at the 2017 "Unite the Right Rally"According to charging documents filed by state officials
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12/23/24
Paid more than a dozen women tens of thousands of dollars for sex and left a paper trail by using a mobile cash app to give them the moneyAccording to bombshell report released by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee
11/18/24
Attended numerous alcohol and drug-fueled "sex parties" where he consumed cocaine and other illicit drugs while he was a sitting congressmanAccording to an attorney representing two women who testified that they attended the parties with Gaetz
11/16/24
Allegedly had sex with an underage 17-year-old girl who had just completed her junior year in high school twice in one night at a party hosted by convicted sex offender Joel Greenberg and then paid her $400 in cash afterwardsAccording to bombshell report released by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee
2/14/24
Asked a young woman who was getting paid by his best friend Joel Greenberg to have sex with other men to join him for a weekend trip to the Florida Keys where he said there would be "2 guys, 4 girls" and insinuated sex would be involvedAccording to an exclusive report by ABC News
2/14/24
Had sex with a 21-year-old who was under the influence of "all kinds of controlled substances" at a drug-fueled party she was paid to attendAccording to an exclusive report by The Daily Beast
5/14/21
Snorted cocaine with a paid escort he also presumably had sex with inside an Orlando hotel room he paid for with campaign fundsAccording to two eyewitnesses who spoke exclusively with The Daily Beast
2/18/14
Had a difficult time handing his license and registration to police officers after getting pulled over for speeding, couldn't stand upright without swaying and refused field sobriety and breathalyzer tests upon which he was arrestedAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Will BraddockFmr. U.S. Rep Candidate
9/29/24
Threatened to kill his primary opponent and eventual winner Anna Luna by calling up his "Russian-Ukrainian hit squad" to take her outAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Mark FoleyFmr. U.S. Representative35 Years in GOP
11/02/06
Offered a 17-year-old boy working as a Congressional page oral sex in exchange for free lodgings at his home at the same time he was chair of a special Congressional committee dedicated to protecting exploited children10/15/06
Asked a 16-year-old male Congressional page to send him photographs of himself and inquired what he could buy him for his birthday over five emails that the page said "really freaked" him out and made him feel "sick"10/15/06
Had sexual relations with two former male pages and sent dozens of inappropriate and sexually suggestive emails and instant messages to underage male pages over a yearslong period while also having voted in favor of numerous pieces of anti-gay legislation throughout his time in CongressAccording to voluminous reports filed by mainstream media outlets
10/04/06
Routinely got drunk and sent sexualized emails and chat messages to underage male Congressional pages over a multiyear periodAccording to reporting by NBC News & other media outlets
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David RiveraFmr. U.S. Representative
12/18/24
Formed fake shell companies to conceal the millions of dollars he earned working as an unregistered foreign agent from the IRSFailed to report hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of taxable income to the government and siphoned even more to himself through a PAC that he earned from working as an unregistered foreign agent and lobbyist for the Venezuelan governmentAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
4/18/12
Secretly siphoned hundreds of thousands of dollars in unreported campaign donations to his personal accounts and used the money on a myriad of personal expenses including his personal credit card and only escaped charges because he exploited a little-known loophole in Florida's campaign finance lawsAccording to the Florida State Attorney's office -
Ross SpanoFmr. U.S. Representative
10/01/20
Attempted to take his loaded concealed handgun onto an airplane at Tampa International Airport, but was stopped by airport security and forced to secure it before being allowed to board his flightAccording to an airport spokesperson and reported by mainstream outlets
Florida Republican Executive Branch Scandals
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9/14/23
Secretly accepted a golf trip without reporting it as required by law in which a major Republican businessman flew him on a private jet to play a round and stay overnight at the Augusta National Golf Club (the most exclusive in the country) and soon after his administration gave his business $92 million in COVID relief funds to fund a major highway projectAccording to an exclisive report by The Washington Post
6/13/23
Illegally transferred $82.5 million from his state political action committee to a super PAC supporting his Presidential bid in violation of a federal campaign finance law that prohibits candidates from spending money that was obtained by people and groups not subject to strict federal requirementsAccording to allegations detailed in a complaint filed by The Campaign Legal Center
Florida Republican State Legislator Scandals
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Frank ArtilesFmr. State Senator [R-FL]
3/19/21
Illegally gave $44,708 to an acquaintance of his who shared the same last name as Democratic state senator to run a fake campaign as an Independent candidate with the sole intent being to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent in an election which was won by Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votesAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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Jack LatvalaFmr. State Senator [R-FL]
11/03/17
Routinely grabbed five female senate staff and lobbyists buttocks, breasts and other parts of their bodies and threatened to retaliate against them by refusing to take meetings with them if they complained about his behavior while also being marriedAccording to an investigative report by Politico
11/03/17
According to an investigative report by Politico noting a private investigator took a picture of them kissing11/03/17
Serially commented on female lobbyists breasts, buttocks and bodies and encroached on their personal space inside elevators and other confined spacesAccording to an investigative report by Politico
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9/13/23
Was sued for sexual harassment for making unwanted sexual advances on a male legislative aide and male legislative internAccording to a civil lawsuit filed by the alleged victims
7/07/23
Told his male legislative aide "I want all of that butt" and then slapped it while they were standing in the back of an elementary school classroom full of children during a Career Day event while also being married7/07/23
Groped and tried to kiss his male legislative intern while being driven home from an alcohol-fueled event at a local bar and then unsuccessfully tried to convince him to come up to his hotel room to have sex while also being marriedAccording to a civil lawsuit filed by the alleged victim
7/07/23
Routinely talked about homosexual sex with two male staffers, pushed for one of them to "explore his sexuality by having sex with men" and showed both a picture of a naked man he had saved on his phoneAccording to a civil lawsuit filed by the alleged victims
4/13/23
Slapped his legislative aide across the face and instructed him to go stand in a corner after he drunkenly interrupted a conversation to ask his aide if he had recently "slept with" the woman he was talking withAccording to a civil lawsuit filed by the alleged victim
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10/20/23
Illegally obtained over $45,000 in Small Business Covid-Relief Funds out of $150,000 he applied for by claiming that dormant companies he owned with no employees actually had 6 employees and revenue of $800k and then lied to federal agents when they questioned him about itAccording to charging documents filed by federal prosecutors
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Carolina AmestyFmr. State Representative
1/18/25
Illegally obtained $122,000 in COVID relief funds for two of her businesses by falsifying documents about their total revenues, number of employees and whether the businesses were legally incorporated to begin withAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
9/18/24
Forged a professor's signature and notarized a document that falsely asserted the unaccredited Christian school she founded had acquired a credentialed professor to teach there resulting in her school improperly obtaining state licensing to operateAccording to charging documents filed by state officials
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Mike HornerFmr. State Representative
10/01/12
Gave his real name when he visited a brothel presumably to have sex with a prostitute while also being married with a young child and was caught when police raided the establishment and came across his name resulting in his immediate resignationAccording to an investigative report by county officials
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Bob AllenFmr. State Representative
11/10/07
Offered to perform oral sex on a random stranger who happened to be an undercover police officer in a public men's restroom for $20 mere months after he co-sponsored a bill that called for public sex offenses like this to be charged as a felony while also being marriedAccording to charging documents filed by state officials
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Keith WestmorelandFmr. State Representative
6/18/02
According to charging documents filed by local police
Florida Republican Finance Official Scandals
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Joel GreenbergFmr. Tax Collector [R-FL]Friend of Rep. Matt Gaetz
5/17/21
Paid an underage girl for sexual encounters seven times and introduced her to other men who also engaged in sexual acts with herHe pled guilty to sex trafficking of a minor and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison3/31/21
Embezzled $400k in taxpayer money by using a government issued credit card on personal purchases including cryptocurrency and professional sports memorabiliaHe pled guilty to a larger package of charges and then cooperated with federal authorities on a larger sex-trafficking investigation6/23/20
Received over $400k in federal COVID relief by falsely claiming two defunct businesses were still operationalAccording to charging documents by federal authorities6/23/20
Maliciously smeared his GOP primary opponent as being a racist child molester through defamatory posts from fake social media accounts he createdAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
Florida Republican Mayor Scandals
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8/29/24
Rammed through a mailbox and drove her vehicle onto the lawn of couple she drunkenly tailgated home and was arrested by police after she failed a field sobriety test which wasn't surprising considering she was found to have a BAC over twice the legal limit when she arrived at jailAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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John HammockFmr. Mayor [R-FL]
1/16/22
Choked, kicked, punched and shoved his wife against the wall and then threatened to kill her during a fit of rage which resulted in his jailing and a judge granting an order of protection she filed against himAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Kevin HohnFmr. Mayor [R-FL]
2/20/21
Produced and distributed over 300 felony images and 40 videos of two underage girls he secretly recorded in various stages of undress with a hidden camera and was also found in possession of over 100,000 images and 1,000 videos depicting children participating in sexual conduct when police arrested himAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
Florida Republican City Official Scandals
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Peter FilibertoFmr. City Council Member
2/14/23
Attempted to flee from police on his motorcycle but wobbled and fell to the ground before he could get away, refused a field sobriety test, was found to be driving on a suspended license and had 10 grams of cocaine hidden in his shoesAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Victor BarbosaFmr. City Council Member
3/04/22
Didn't scan an item at two separate self-checkout registers at a local Walmart and claimed it was done "inadvertently" when confronted by store security, but presumably from guilt later resigned from his city council positionAccording to a report by The Daytona beach News-Journal
Other Florida Republican Scandals
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William PruittFmr. Chief of Police
12/09/22
Raped a 14-year-old girl twice at gunpoint after luring her into his truck, threatened to "blow her brains out" if she ever told anyone, conspired with friends who were former police officers to send a torrent of threatening messages to scare her from reporting it to the authorities and continued to stalk her even after being charged with raping herAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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George KruseCommissioner [R-FL]
5/05/22
Lost control of his truck and slammed into a tree and then refused a breathalyzer test after police noticed he had bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and reported that he was "obviously impaired"According to charging documents filed by local police
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Julianna StroutCommissioner [R-FL]
10/27/22
Falsely asserted she was a paralegal to federal authorities so she could enter an immigration detention facility her romantic partner was being held atAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Mildred FernandezFmr. County Commissioner
2/12/12
Accepted $2,000 more than she legally was able to in campaign donations from an undercover agent posing as a business executive in exchange for expediting one of their development projects through the government certification process and didn't report the money in her election reports which state authorities assert is akin to stealing from her campaignAccording to charging documents filed by state officials -
Joe MartinezFmr. County Commissioner
8/31/22
Accepted three $5k checks from a local business owner in exchange for a proposing an ordinance that would personally benefit themAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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Matthew ShirkFmr. District Attorney
1/05/17
Discussed showering and having sex with three subordinates in private messages, sent one a private message that said "I think if we had sex there would be very minimal awkwardness afterwards," drank to excess with them in his office and later fired all three after his wife caught himAccording to an exclusive report by The Florida Times-Union
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Donald Trump47th U.S. President
162.3m
1/26/21
Commuted the life sentence of a drug kingpin who was imprisoned for his role in the killing of an undercover police officer and who was later sent to jail after being convicted for strangling his wifeAccording to news reports from credible media outlets
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Dane EagleState Representative [R]
4/23/14
Ran a stoplight and nearly crashed into a curb after he departed a Taco Bell at 2am, stumbled while getting out of his car and refused to submit to a field sobriety test after the police officer smelled a strong odor of alcohol on him and inside the carAccording to a video of his arrest exclusively obtained by a local newspaper