Raid on Frank Artiles home could be justice, could be political preemption

Raid on Frank Artiles home could be justice, could be political preemption
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State investigates his involvement in sham senate race

Former State Sen. Frank Artiles had his Palmetto Bay home raided Wednesday morning in connection with the sham plantidate that helped Sen. Ileana Garcia win the District 37 race against Jose Javier Rodriguez by a scant 32 votes.

Investigators with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office took boxes of electronics, documents and whatever else they found — including articles from his safe — that link Artiles to Alex Rodriguez, who was a Republican days before he filed to run as an NPA against the popular former legislator with the same last name. Alex Rodriguez got more than 6,000 votes.

And he must be cooperating. According to Local 10’s Glenna Milberg — who tracked Alex Rodriguez down to his home in Boca Raton after the election — there could be an email train as the plantidate provided Artiles updates. She also reported that the campaign donor list tracks back to his IP address.

WPLG got video of investigators leaving with boxes.

Screensave of WPLG Local 10’s video outside Frank Artiles’ Palmetto Bay house.

A request for more information — a warrant, affidavit, list of items seized — has been largely ignored so far. But Ladra doesn’t think that our esteemed State Attorney Kathy Fernandez-Rundle would go this far if she didn’t already know what they were looking for and how good it is. Not our state attorney. She is loathe to go after politicians.

Hmmmm. She is loathe to go after politicians. Especially this quickly. What makes #ThanksFrank any different?

Read related: Frank Artiles, Juan Perez among names for Miami-Dade Commission appointee

Well, perhaps it is the fact that he thinks he can get back into office. Artiles put his name in the ring when the Miami-Dade Commission was in the process of appointing a replacement for District 8, where Mayor Daniella Levine Cava served before being elected alcaldesa in November. They finally settled on Danielle Cohen Higgins, who is already drawing opposition because of her unpopular bridge to nowhere proposal for 87th Avenue (more on that later).

Was the state attorney prodded or pressured by anyone who might be threatened by Artiles’ potential 2022 run for this or the other office?

It doesn’t really matter. Artiles — who had to resign his seat after a public, racist rant against black colleagues — deserves this either way. He is the same comemierda who lived outside his district as a state rep and punched a college kid in a bar. He wants to kill bears and he had the firefighters cancer pre-emption bill stalled in Tallahassee and has worked in the background for a number of high-priority GOP races.

He is not a nice guy.

What exactly is he accused of? Well, planting an NPA candidate in and of itself is not illegal. But financing that campaign is.

Read related: Jose Javier Rodriguez senate loss in rigged race must be investigated fully

“The illegalities lie specifically in issues of money,” said former state rep turned elections attorney JC Planas, who represented J-Rod in the recount.

“If Alex Rodriguez was paid to run, both he and whoever paid him violated the law,” Planas told Ladra. “As it is right now, it seems that campaign finance reports were falsified and that is also illegal.”

He can get jail time for that. Prende una velita.

4 Responses to "Raid on Frank Artiles home could be justice, could be political preemption"

  1. If people really were tricked or confused by this scheme, then they really were not paying attention and got the senator they deserved. Fortunately for Jose Rodriguez, if he is so popular and all this is true, he should easily win if given a rematch. In the meantime, perhaps Ms. Garcia will surprise us all and do a decent job. Let’s give her a chance to prove she will do what is best for our district during this legislative session. Nonetheless, her constituents should start paying attention to both hold her accountable for her actions and show they learned an important lesson from the election about keeping eyes and ears open.

  2. ” Miami Dade County is the armpit of our country thanks to our corrupt State Attorney and her selective enforcement practice.”

    YES , She is the head of the what I call the Cuban Cosa Nostra .

    However the majority of voters stick with her , though they agree with you.

    I respect those who vote and look down on those who do not but wish voters would actually look at the candidates and their history , if nothing else perhaps after decades it is time to vote out these CAREER government officials .

    To flee engulfing corruption , zero political standards only to recreate it is a sad reflection on EVERY Hispanic group and it looks to me that this is what we do .

  3. You have to hand it to Kathy Rundle, our State Attorney for life! Going after Artiles, who is a sinister character, is nothing but a political ploy. Let’s face it, Rundle does not go after corrupt politicians and lobbyists out of fear they may spill the beans on her own criminal enterprise.
    As far as running a candidate in a race, that is old news! It has been done in Miami since time immemorial. Rundle must have a short memory! Didn’t Carlos Gimenez run a rich boy named Ferro for mayor back in 2012? How quickly that same Ferro went to work for Gimenez after his “loss”!
    Miami Dade County is the armpit of our country thanks to our corrupt State Attorney and her selective enforcement practice. That State Attorney anti-corruption task force is nothing but a tool to get Rundle’s job done. As long as Rundle is in office, our county will continue to the corruption capitol of our nation.

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