Gov. Rick Scott, left, denies allegations made by former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey that Scott forced him out of office. BY MATT DIXON Tribune/Scripps Capital Bureau TALLAHASSEE — After facing weeks of heat over his ouster of the state’s top cop, Gov. Rick Scott pushed back Thursday against allegations he tried to politicize Florida’s top law enforcement office. Scott, in a two-page letter issued by his office Thursday, refuted allegations made by former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey. Bailey has said Scott forced him out, and he accused Scott’s campaign of seeking contributions from FDLE and forcing agency troopers to transport campaign staff. Bailey also accused Scott’s campaign of asking him to falsely claim the Orange County clerk of court was under investigation. Two members of the Cabinet on Thursday called for outside investigations of Bailey’s allegations. Scott’s letter responding to Bailey’s claims offers specific details of Bailey’s firing, a process that started and ended Dec. 16. “Cabinet staff were notified that Gerald Bailey would be met with that day about the Governor’s desire for new leadership at FDLE,” the letter says. After that meeting, Pete Antonaci, Scott’s former top attorney, met with Bailey to tell him Scott wanted a leadership change. Later that day, Bailey submitted a letter saying he was “stepping down.” Scott said staff from the Florida Cabinet “were notified” that same day that he wanted a leadership change at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Because the Cabinet also oversees that agency, Cabinet members would have had to take a formal vote to remove Bailey had he not agreed to resign. Notification of the Cabinet became an issue after members told reporters this month that Scott did not tell them he wanted to remove Bailey. The three-person Cabinet includes Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Each has since called for a closer look at the circumstances surrounding Bailey’s removal. “They’re very serious, and they should be looked into,” Atwater said. “Everybody should be able to see all of this. It should be all very transparent, very exposed, all the questions answered.” Putnam also called for an outside investigation, and Bondi said she wanted the issue discussed at a Cabinet meeting Feb. 5. Scott’s letter also denied Bailey’s allegation that Bailey was asked to falsely claim Orange County Clerk of Court Colleen Reilly was under investigation after a high-profile prison escape. Scott’s office had conversations with Reilly about the inmate escapes but never asked Bailey to falsely claim she was under investigation, and any solicitation for campaign cash was accidental, the letter states. “The discussions with Bailey were about how to provide the most complete account of who could have been involved in the high-profile escape of two inmates, which included both the Clerk’s Office and the Department of Corrections,” the letter states. “The discussion was not about targeting any individual.” Scott’s letter says his campaign “paid an invoice from FDLE for the estimated cost” of campaign travel. detailed information below in response to Gerald Bailey accusations - flgov/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/1.22.2014-FAQ.pdf Governor Scott’s Press Office .... statement Q: Is it true that Gerald Bailey was forced to resign? · Prior to December 16, 2014, the Governor’s staff notified cabinet staff (including the offices of the Attorney General, the Chief Financial Officer, and the Commissioner of Agriculture) that the Governor wanted new leadership at FDLE. Cabinet staff raised no objection. · On Tuesday, December 16, 2014, cabinet staff were notified that Gerald Bailey would be met with that day about the Governor’s desire for new leadership at FDLE. Peter Antonacci, then general counsel, met with Bailey and said the Governor wanted new leadership at FDLE and requested his resignation. · Bailey sent a letter to the Governor saying he was “stepping down” that same day, December 16th. Q: Is it true that you or your aides instructed FDLE to identify Alan Williams in a daily media report about the Dream Defender protest at the capitol? · The Governor’s office, FDLE and DMS worked to produce daily media reports in response to a high volume of media requests for information (including the costs of the protest, activities of protestors and incidents in the capitol during the protest). · Representative Williams was first identified by name in an incident report memo from Gerald Bailey emailed to the Governor’s office on Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 4:40 pm and then included in a memo to press at 4:57PM that same day. · During the protest, it was standard practice to provide as much information to the media as possible without compromising the security concerns of the capitol building. Q: Did Governor’s staff direct Bailey to target Interim Orange County Clerk Colleen Reilly as part of the investigation of two escaped inmates? · No, Frank Collins met with FDLE communications personnel to help coordinate an FDLE press conference. Bailey asked to speak with Collins and FDLE communications staff before the press conference. · The discussions with Bailey were about how to provide the most complete account of who could have been involved in the high- profile escape of two inmates, which included both the Clerk’s Office and the Department of Corrections. · The discussion was not about targeting any individual. Q: Did you ask FDLE to get involved in a federal money laundering case so a donor could be appointed to a position? · No, the Governor did not ask Bailey to get involved in any type of investigation in any way. · While there is no record of an appointment application in the Governor’s office, it is likely he was considered for an appointment at some point because there was a request for a background check. However, there was no request to FDLE to influence any kind of investigation. Q: Is it true that FDLE was forced to transport staffers from your re-election campaign in state vehicles? · The campaign paid an invoice from FDLE for the estimated cost of staff to travel with the Governor and the First Lady. · FDLE would not transport Meghan Collins on one occasion, which created some confusion because the campaign was already working to reimburse any cost to the state for staff travel. Q: Is it true your campaign solicited donations from FDLE on their state emails? · Any emails used for campaign donations would have been obtained through lists operated by organizations that included individuals who opted in for communication. Unfortunately, those lists were not regularly cleaned to ensure they did not have any government email addresses on them. · The law requires mass emails to include an unsubscribe link that would have allowed any recipient to automatically be removed from a list at any time. Q: Is it true that Pete Antonacci requested FDLE to delete public records? · No. Q: Is it true that campaign aides asked for FDLE to help develop campaign policy by getting on a phone call? · FDLE did the right thing by ignoring a campaign staffer’s inappropriate request for assistance. Q: What about the allegation from Bailey that your administration forces agencies to make certain hiring decisions? · Our office frequently makes suggestions on qualified candidates, but we do not require agencies to hire anyone. Q: What about the allegation from Bailey that the Governor’s office stopped FDLE from briefing the cabinet on their plan to increase pay for crime lab employees? · In October, the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget advised FDLE to not include any pay increases in their Legislative Budget Requests because pay increases for all state agencies were to be considered as a whole at a later date. The Governor’s full budget proposal will be released next week.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 20:28:11 +0000
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