Wow. Miami Herald says Rick Scott's FDLE scandal "Too smelly to ignore" [View all]

[madfloridian]

Too smelly to ignore


ADMISSION: Gov. Rick Scott, at a public Cabinet meeting at the Florida State Fair in Tampa last week, said that he mishandled the dismissal of the state’s top cop. AP

The Florida Constitution (Article IV, Section 4) is unmistakably clear on the issue of who runs the state’s police department: “The governor as chair, the chief financial officer, the attorney general, and the commissioner of agriculture shall constitute the agency head of the Department of Law Enforcement.”

Notwithstanding these plain words in the state’s basic document, Gov. Scott on Dec. 16 sent one of his minions to inform FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey, a respected, longtime law-enforcement officer, that he must either resign or be fired, no reason given.

After Mr. Bailey chose to resign, the governor disingenuously informed the other members of the Cabinet — Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam — that Mr. Bailey had simply turned in his badge. That cleared the way for Mr. Scott to install Rick Swearingen as Mr. Bailey’s replacement without anyone else being considered.

There's been no doubt it was a forced resignation. This is what Gerald Bailey heard from Scott's office

An unsuspecting Bailey said that Scott's general counsel, Pete Antonacci, arrived at his office on a Tuesday morning and told him: "We've known each other a long time, and this is not my idea. You've got two choices: resign or retire, and do it before 5 o'clock."

More from the Herald:

Understandably, the Republican-controlled body is reluctant to investigate a Republican governor, but surely lawmakers realize that public integrity, open government and law enforcement free of political control are not partisan issues. The scandal is too smelly to ignore, and the sooner officials in Tallahassee realize that, the better off Florida will be.