I dunno. Perhaps I was a tad too critical – a bit too judgmental – in my previous blog, The great ham sandwich caper.
In which I ridiculed a toothless Florida grand jury for its inability to indict so much as a ham sandwich…let alone a sitting state Attorney General and a sitting U.S. Senator. And never mind our (thankfully) soon to be outgoing Guv.
Some might consider the grand jury to be soft on public corruption. But history tells us that it’s simply bidness as usual in this here Sunshine State.
Which is to say that corrupt Florida politicians are rarely indicted and convicted on state charges. It just isn’t done.
How then to explain why the non-profit watchdog group Integrity Florida got away with branding Florida the most corrupt state in America in 2012?
Simple, really. Because over the previous decade a record 781 Florida politicians had been convicted on corruption charges…
…all of them filed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
And it has ever been thus.
During the Watergate era Florida’s U.S. Sen. Ed Guerney gave up his reelection bid because he was facing federal influence peddling charges.
Remember state House Speaker Bo Johnson? Went to prison for tax evasion.
Williston state Rep. Joseph Harding? Wire fraud and money laundering.
Gainesville’s own U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown? Mail fraud and filing false tax returns,
I could go on and on and on. But frankly, the list is exhaustingly long. Not to mention depressing.
Consider this CBS News report when Integrity Florida leveled the “most corrupt state” label on Florida:
…in 2010, a statewide grand jury slammed Florida laws for being too lax on corruption, and made a number of suggestions, most of which were never implemented. Then-Gov. Charlie Crist called for that grand jury investigation in 2009 following a string of high profile arrests of public officials and political figures. He noted at the time that he had been forced to remove 33 public officials from office in less than three years as governor because of varying instances of wrongdoing.
What has official Floriduh done to stiffen public corruption laws since then?
Not much.
Nothing to speak of.
Nothing at all really.
All of which begs the real question in regard to the current Hope Florida scandal:
Where the hell are the feds?
Listen, the Justice Department’s penchant for going after crooked politicians didn’t happen spontaneously. Justice established a Public Integrity Section right after Watergate – the granddaddy of political scandals – because it was widely recognized at the time that official corruption was getting out of control.
And over the years, over the decades, federal prosecutors have relentlessly gone after crooked federal, state and local officials…Republicans and Democrats alike.
So what’s happened?
Duh! Trump happened of course.
These days the Department of Justice exists almost exclusively to punish The President’s enemies and turn a blind eye to Trump’s own extensive trail of public corruption.
Are the feds really going to go after a sitting Governor, state AG and U.S. Senator – Republicans all – in Trump’s own reddest of red Florida? Not a chance.
In short, nobody’s coming anytime soon to prosecute the most blatant case of official corruption at the highest level in modern Florida history.
Which leaves only the voters to exact some measure of justice.
If Sen. Ashley Moody and AG James Uthmeier are defeated in November it will not just be a victory for the Democrats.
It will be a win for public integrity in a state that has for too long downplayed, ignored or glossed over acts of official misconduct.
And not to forget that Dem David Jolly has already promised to reopen the Hope Florida investigation if he is elected Governor.
This time the voters have it in their power to be judge, jury and prosecutor. Justice demands it.
FreeGNV 