The Florida Commission on Ethics said it had probable cause that former Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll broke the law by not disclosing all of her income on mandatory financial disclosure forms. Carroll was cleared of accepting payment to influence her work as a legislator, and one other ethics charge.
Carroll resigned in March 2013 relating to her affiliation, before she ran with Scott, with Allied Veterans of the World, a phony charity that fronted a $300 million illegal gambling operation. State investigators eventually concluded that Carroll did not break any criminal laws, but last year the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found Allied Veterans paid Carroll’s company nearly $100,000 in 2009 and 2010 public relations work.
Carroll, then a state legislator, did not report earning that much on mandatory financial disclosure forms filed with the state or on her federal income tax filings. She changed the forms after state investigators questioned her about it, but stated her actions were a mistake and not intentional. She said she does not plan to challenge the findings, but that Scott was wrong to force her to resign when the Allied Veterans investigation became public. She said, “If they find a reason to fine me for that, so be it. What I would like is a public apology from Governor Scott for his knee jerk reaction to ask for my resignation where no probable cause or evidence presented itself to implicate me to the issues with Allied Veterans.”
Jackie Schutz, a spokeswoman for Scott, said that the governor appreciated Carroll’s service but that she “made the right decision for her family by resigning.”
As a state legislator, Carroll filed a bill that could have had an impact on Allied Veterans. She told state investigators that the bill but was meant to be a “placeholder” and blamed her aide for mistakenly filing it. Carroll later withdrew the measure.
