David Rivera dodges the state; still waits for the Feds

An 18 month investigation conducted by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) have not turned up enough evidence to bring U.S. Rep. David Rivera to trial, reported Scott Hiaassen and Patricia Mazzei of The Miami Herald.

Rivera is still under investigation by the FBI and the IRS for a $510,000 payment from Flagler Dog Track. The money was paid to Millennium Marketing, a company managed by Rivera’s mother and godmother. At least $150,000 of the money in question has been traced back to Rivera, who had not reported it, as required by law, in his state financial forms when he served as a state representative.

The Miami Herald report stated that “Though records released late Monday show FDLE last year suspected Rivera of ‘possible criminal and ethical violations,’ ranging from campaign fraud to falsifying financial disclosure forms, prosecutors have concluded that they cannot charge the Miami congressman with any crimes because of ambiguities in the state’s campaign finance laws and a shortened statute of limitations that barred prosecution for expenses more than two years old.”

Remember Kathy?

I will remind the reader of a decision made in January 2011 by Katherine Fernandez Rundle, the Miami-Dade State Attorney, who abruptly decided to change lead investigators on the case. She removed Richard Scruggs, described then as her most experienced public corruption prosecutor. At the time she also sidelined several other very capable investigators. These moves resulted in slowing down the Rivera investigation. And the results we now see.

Many have speculated why Fernandez Rundle did this. The answer may lie within the state’s shortened statute of limitations…

Fernandez Rundle is running for reelection this year. Although she is a lifelong Democrat, she depends heavily on Cuban American voters. And she has always maintained a close relationship with many of the same Rivera supporters in the Miami area.

Putting the law aside, how can anyone really trust Rivera? Here’s a couple of more important paragraphs from the final FDLE memo as reported by the Herald:

– “Investigators also pored over Rivera’s spending from the campaign accounts. In a July 2011 memo, FDLE investigators said they believed that Rivera spent as much as $65,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses — from pet care costs to dry cleaning, a dentist’s bill and “travel expenses for his girlfriend.” The memo does not name the girlfriend.”

– “After a thorough analysis, FDLE identified a pattern of activity in which Mr. Rivera was utilizing funds collected during his political campaigns to defray personal expenses not related to campaign activity.”

And finally “Investigators examined Rivera’s campaign expenses going as far back as 2004. However, a two-year statute of limitations on campaign violations prevented prosecutors from pursuing a case based on any suspected violations prior to Rivera’s 2010 campaign,” the Miami Herald sources said.

Alvaro F. Fernandez