Rep. Matt Gaetz warned that failed presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg’s effort to raise millions to help Florida felons pay off debts and vote may land the billionaire behind bars.
“It is a third-degree felony for someone to either directly or indirectly provide something of value to impact whether or not someone votes. So the question is whether or not paying off someone’s fines and legal obligations counts as something of value, and it clearly does,” the Florida Republican told Fox News’s Sean Hannity.
A Florida constitutional amendment allows many felons to regain voting rights after serving their prison term and payment of restitution, fines, and fees. Bloomberg and the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition paid off the debts of 32,000 felons in the state.
Gaetz said he spoke with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and now believes “there may be a criminal investigation already underway of the Bloomberg-connected activities in Florida.”
“The law is clear. This is something of value, and I am encouraged after my conversation with the attorney general,” Gaetz said. “I hope we have good law enforcement all over the country looking for the cheating and the tricks that these Democrats are going to try in this election.”
Bloomberg’s team saw the payment of debts as “a more cost-effective way of adding votes to the Democratic column than investing money to persuade voters who already have the right to vote,” according to a memo obtained by the Washington Post. “The data shows that in Florida, Black voters are a unique universe unlike any other voting bloc, where the Democratic support rate tends to be 90%-95%.”
After spending $1 billion on his own failed run for president, Bloomberg pledged to pump $100 million into Florida, where Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and President Trump are virtually tied.
“There is no amount of money that Bloomberg can spend that will change the outcome of the election in Florida,” Curt Anderson, senior adviser to Florida Sen. Rick Scott, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s a complete joke and an overhyped media story. Trump is going to carry Florida, and there is nothing that small, little man can do about it.”
