Florida AG Release Of Records In Firing Scandal Of Office's F'closure Fraud Fighters Shows Squat; State Officials Remain Tight-Lipped In Ongoing Probe

In Orlando, Florida, columnist Scott Maxwell writes in the Orlando Sentinel:

• When last we checked on Attorney General Pam Bondi, she was being investigated for forcing out two of her top-producing investigators, and legislators had asked her to produce records to justify her actions. Well, the investigation is still going, and state officials are tight-lipped about when it might be complete.



• But public records are starting to trickle out. And if there was a smoking gun to justify these ousters, there's no paperwork to show it.



• To the contrary, state Rep. Darren Soto said his reading of the documents show that Bondi's office ousted "forceful champions who were slugging it out in the trenches on behalf of Floridians. "They were doing a good job — and should have been able to keep it."



• "They" refers to June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards — two assistant AG's who made national news for their zeal and success in the world of foreclosure fraud. [...] Yet at the height of their success, Bondi's office forced them out.

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• [S]oto, D-Orlando, and other legislators filed a records request, asking for anything that might justify the expulsions. What Bondi released this week was thin. The lead document was a complaint from an attorney representing a company being investigated for something else.

For more, see Lawyers fought corruption, then lost their jobs.