Florida Republican Scandals | Updated List of GOP Scandals in FL

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 concluded

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"

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 money

Attended numerous alcohol and drug-fueled "sex parties" where he consumed cocaine and other illicit drugs while he was a sitting congressman

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 afterwards

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 involved

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 attend

Snorted cocaine with a paid escort he also presumably had sex with inside an Orlando hotel room he paid for with campaign funds

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 arrested

Threatened to kill his primary opponent and eventual winner Anna Luna by calling up his "Russian-Ukrainian hit squad" to take her out and then fled to Thailand in a failed attempt to escape justice

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 children

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"

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 Congress

Routinely got drunk and sent sexualized emails and chat messages to underage male Congressional pages over a multiyear period

Formed fake shell companies to conceal the millions of dollars he earned working as an unregistered foreign agent from the IRS

Failed 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 government

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 laws

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 flight

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 project

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 requirements

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 votes

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 married

Kissed a lobbyist on the lips in public less than two years after marrying his second wife

Serially commented on female lobbyists breasts, buttocks and bodies and encroached on their personal space inside elevators and other confined spaces

Was sued for sexual harassment for making unwanted sexual advances on a male legislative aide and male legislative intern

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 married

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 married

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 phone

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 with

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 it

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 with

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 operate

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 resignation

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 married

Exposed his genitals to three underage girls in a hotel pool and hot tub

Paid an underage girl for sexual encounters seven times and introduced her to other men who also engaged in sexual acts with her

Embezzled $400k in taxpayer money by using a government issued credit card on personal purchases including cryptocurrency and professional sports memorabilia

Received over $400k in federal COVID relief by falsely claiming two defunct businesses were still operational

Maliciously smeared his GOP primary opponent as being a racist child molester through defamatory posts from fake social media accounts he created

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 jail

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 him

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 him

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 shoes

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 position

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 her

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"

Falsely asserted she was a paralegal to federal authorities so she could enter an immigration detention facility her romantic partner was being held at

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 campaign

Accepted three $5k checks from a local business owner in exchange for a proposing an ordinance that would personally benefit them

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 him

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 wife

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 car