![]() Those political committees initially reported the source of their donations as a nonprofit named “Proclivity,” whose address is a box in a UPS store in Atlanta. Phone records from Alex Alvarado, a Republican consultant who was paid last year by groups linked to AIF and was involved in sending out the mailers, were also subpoenaed by the South Florida prosecutors, records show. The other paid for mail supporting Rodriguez and the other no-party candidate in the two South Florida Senate races. One of those committees paid for mail supporting Jestine Iannotti, the no-party candidate who ran in Brodeur’s race in Central Florida. Artiles also allegedly promised to pay Rodriguez $50,000, telling his friend that “we have money in an account,” according to an arrest warrant.Įlection records show that the $550,000 was split between two now-defunct political committees. One of the biggest mysteries in the Senate election controversy is the source of the $550,000 that was spent in support of the three no-party candidates. Nor did representatives for Data Targeting. Both have plead not guilty.Ī spokesperson for Simpson and the Senate Republican campaign committee did not respond to requests for comment. Ana Maria Rodriguez.Īrtiles and Alexis Rodriguez were charged in connection with District 37, where Garcia defeated a Democratic incumbent by 32 votes out of more than 210,000 cast. ![]() Ileana Garcia and Senate District 39 in Miami and Monroe counties, won by Republican Sen. Records show Data Targeting was involved with each of the three Senate races in which the involvement of no-party candidates has drawn scrutiny: Senate District 9 in Seminole and Volusia counties, which was won by Brodeur Senate District 37 in Miami, won by Republican Sen. Records show the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which Simpson led, paid Data Targeting more than $7 million during the 2020 election cycle. The Data Targeting subpoena was first reported by the Miami Herald.ĭuring last year’s elections, Data Targeting worked directly with Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Republican from Pasco County who was in charge of GOP Senate campaigns. a Gainesville-based political consulting firm that runs campaigns for Senate Republican leadership. Griffith declined to elaborate on those discussions Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.Īnd in addition to Let’s Preserve the American Dream, court filings show that prosecutors have also subpoenaed emails, invoices and contracts between Artiles and Data Targeting Inc. Matt Gaetz is reportedly under investigation in a sex-trafficking and public-corruption probe that, according to the New York Times, may also overlap with the Florida elections probe. Obtaining Let’s Preserve the American Dream’s bank records is the latest sign that the Artiles investigation is reaching into the highest echelons of Florida Republican politics.įor instance, Griffith said that Miami prosecutors have spoken with federal investigators in Washington, where U.S. Feeney did not respond to requests for comment. House following a national lobbying scandal. congressman from Central Florida who was hired by the business lobbying group after he lost reelection to the U.S. But all three no-party candidates were supported by nearly identical advertisements that appeared designed to siphon votes from Democrats and were financed with $550,000 in donations from a nonprofit organization that did not disclose its own donors.Īn ad aimed at liberals touting obscure non-party affiliated state Senate candidate Jestine Iannotti was paid for by a mysterious group based out of Winter Springs.ĪIF is run by Tom Feeney, the former Republican state House speaker and U.S. Only Artiles and Rodriguez have been accused of crimes. Rodriguez was one of three mysterious no-party candidates supported by the same big-money donor who ran in highly competitive state Senate elections last fall - including a Senate race in Central Florida won by Republican Sen. Rodriguez has also been charged in the case. Authorities say Artiles paid a financially struggling friend, Alexis Pedro Rodriguez, to run as an independent candidate in a state Senate race in South Florida. ![]() The records were obtained as part of a criminal case in Miami, where prosecutors have charged former Republican state Sen. Investigators searching for the source of more than half-a-million dollars spent last year in support of spoiler candidates that helped Republicans win three key state Senate races have obtained bank records for an organization tied to a big-business lobbying group funded by companies such as Florida Power & Light, Walt Disney World and U.S.
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