Police raid home of former GOP lawmaker who bragged about planting no-party candidate

[Yonnie3]

Source: Miami Herald

Law enforcement officials on Wednesday raided the Palmetto Bay home of former Miami state Sen. Frank Artiles, who is believed to be tied to a state investigation involving a no-party candidate who likely swayed a key Miami-Dade Senate race.

Artiles' involvement in the race first became public after the Miami Herald reported that he recruited and boasted about planting Alex Rodriguez, an auto-parts dealer, in Miami-Dade's Senate District 37 race. Rodriguez ran as a no-party candidate, shared the same surname as the incumbent Democrat, and his mysterious candidacy has been under investigation since last November.

snip

Over drinks at an election night party, Artiles publicly bragged about planting Alex Rodriguez, a longtime acquaintance and Facebook friend, to run in the race. His involvement in launching Rodriguez' bid was extensive, sources with direct knowledge indicted to the Herald last December.

"That is me, that was all me," Artiles told a crowd at Liam Fitzpatrick's restaurant in Lake Mary, where Sen. Jason Brodeur was holding his election night party, according to a person who was there and who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

snip


Read more: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article249999979.html

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Such actions must not go unpunished

[nykym]

1. It's a good thing that

these idiots have such tremendous egos that they can't keep their mouths shut.

[PatSeg]

4. I was thinking the same thing

Their downfall is often there inability to shut up. They keep saying the quiet part out loud.

[getagrip_already]

2. is what he did actually illegal?

It's repulsive to be sure, but what about recruiting a candidate to run is illegal?

[Lochloosa]

3. whether there is evidence Artiles illegally funded a sham candidacy

It's always about the money.

[NH Ethylene]

6. I was wondering that too.

People are always getting candidates to run for their own agendas. What is it that makes this illegal? That it is a no-party candidate and clearly meant to manipulate the outcome?

[Judi Lynn]

5. This guy needs to take some time out. From the last paragraph in the article:

Artiles resigned from the Senate in disgrace in 2017 amid two parallel scandals. The first was an alcohol-fueled rant in which he called two Black lawmakers a racist slur in a Tallahassee bar. The second involved the hiring of a former Hooters “calendar girl” and a Playboy model with no political experience as “consultants” using funds from his political committee.

From Frank's Wikipedia:

Early life
The son of Cuban immigrants, Artiles was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1973, and moved to the state of Florida in 1975. He attended Florida State University, graduating with a degree in criminal justice and criminology in 1995. Following graduation, Artiles joined the United States Marine Corps in 1998[2] and served through 2006.[3] He attended the St. Thomas University School of Law, from which he received his Juris Doctor in 2000, and the University of Miami School of Law, receiving his Master of Laws in real property development in 2001.[2]

. . .

Controversies
On April 17, 2017, Artiles, over drinks at the Governors Club with two African-American senators, called one of them a "bitch" and a "girl," referred to six Republican senators as "niggers," called the Republican Senate President Joe Negron a "pussy," and used the phrase "fucking asshole."[13] He later claimed that he used the word "niggas" instead of "niggers," suggesting that his usage was appropriate.

He made a public apology on the Senate floor, and a formal complaint was filed with the Senate Rules Committee by Senator Perry Thurston, requesting an investigation and Artiles' expulsion.[14]

On April 20, 2017, Artiles' friends learned that the Miami Herald was looking into the expense records of Artiles' PAC, "Veterans for Conservative Principles", which had hired a former Hooters "calendar girl" for $2,000 and a Playboy model 'Miss Social', neither with any political experience.[15] The investigation had requested the personnel files of the women who were listed by the PAC as consultants or who had been introduced by the senator as interns, and was questioning the women.[16] The next morning, before the Senate investigation had begun, Artiles resigned, calling his continued presence in government a distraction and apologizing again.[1]

Artiles was succeeded as Senator by Democrat Annette Taddeo in a special election held in September 2017.[17]

According to The Miami Herald in December 2020, Artiles took credit for election of Republican Ileana Garcia to the Florida Senate, by engineering the run of no-party candidate Alex Rodríguez's run in the same race. The no-party candidate shared the same surname as the Democrat incumbent José Javier Rodríguez. Garcia won by 32 votes, with Alex Rodríguez obtaining over 6,300 votes in the election, despite Alex Rodríguez's failure to campaign during the election. Alex Rodríguez is an acquaintance of Artiles, reported The Miami Herald. [18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Artiles

[oasis]

7. Asshole thought he was slick but he won't be able to slide.