Broward State Attorney To Investigate City Of Miami

Miami FL

19 January, 2022

7:32 PM

Description

A Miami Times Staff Report, the Miami Times Jan 18, 2022 The Feds haven't said if they will investigate City of Miami officials and employees, but the state of Florida is. Corruption allegations laid out by Art Acevedo, Miami's fired former police chief Art, will be looked into by the Broward state attorney's office after Miami-Dade County State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle recused herself and her office from taking on the task. First reported by the Miami Herald, the recusal was originally confidential and disclosed in unsealed documents and in an email sent to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office by Fernandez Rundle's staff. One of the documents references a conflict of interest as the reasoning behind the recusal. The witness in the investigation is apparently related to a senior attorney who the state attorney relies on for legal matters, including the case in question. To avoid any "appearance of impropriety," Fernandez Rundle asked that another state attorney handle the investigation, pushing DeSantis to hand over the responsibilities to Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor until Dec. 17, 2022, in an executive order. "It is in the best interest of the State of Florida and of the ends of justice that the Honorable Harold F. Pryor discharge the duties of the Honorable Katherine Fernandez Rundle," reads the order signed Dec. 17, 2021. Pryor will look into accusations outlined in Acevedo's eight-page written memo sent to City Manager Arthur Noriega, the state attorney's office, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office. In it, Commissioners Joe Carollo, Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Manolo Reyes are accused of meddling in police matters and interfering with internal affairs investigations in several instances. The commissioners denied the allegations during a heated monthslong battle last fall that preceded Acevedo's firing. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.