Michael Bloomberg (MSNBC video screenshot)
A U.S. congressman is asking Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody to investigate New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg for vote-buying after the billionaire confirmed raising millions of dollars to pay the fines and fees of thousands of convicts in Florida so they would be able to vote.
In fact, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said he thinks there might be an investigation already underway.
I just spoke to @AGAshleyMoody, she is all over the @MikeBloomberg-connected activities in Florida.
There may even be a criminal investigation already underway.
Law enforcement all over the country should be looking for the cheating Democrats are going to try in this election. pic.twitter.com/S5K5gl8lYt
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) September 23, 2020
Gaetz wrote on Twitter: "Law enforcement all over the country should be looking for the cheating Democrats are going to try in this election."
Moody already "is all over the @MikeBLoomberg-connected activities," he said. "There may even be a criminal investigation already underway."
The issue is that Bloomberg confirmed raising millions of dollars to pay off fines and fees for some 32,000 convicts in Florida. They are not allowed to vote again until all fines and fees are paid, under a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Both state and federal laws forbid giving "something of value" for their vote.
Florida state law even makes it clear that giving something to someone "indirectly" is a Class 3 felony.
Elections expert and lawyer J. Christian Adams pointed out that Bloomberg himself had noted that some 90% of blacks in the group of convicts he targeted for help vote "Democrat."
Adams said in a Fox News interview, "If somebody gives you something for voting that is a crime under federal law."
Further, the recipients of money to pay fines and fees would be required to report the donations as income and pay taxes on it, he said.
Fox News reported Bloomberg, who was for a short time in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, has raised more than $16 million for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
In Florida, convicted felons can regain their voting rights after having served their time.
However, a law enacted by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, Fox News said, "states that felons must pay all fines, restitution, and other legal financial obligations before their sentences could be considered fully served."
Gaetz said the question is "whether or not paying off someone’s fines and legal obligations counts as something of value, and it clearly does."
"[W]hen you improve someone’s net worth by eliminating their financial liabilities, that’s something of value," Gaetz said. "Normally, it would be very difficult to prove that that was directly linked to impacting whether or not someone was going to vote. But they literally wrote their own admission."
A Bloomberg memo, reported by the Washington Post, said: "We know to win Florida we will need to persuade, motivate and add new votes to the Biden column. This means we need to explore all avenues for finding the needed votes when so many votes are already determined. 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%."
The Gateway Pundit reported NBA superstar Lebron James is also looking to pay convicted felons' fines so they can vote for Biden.
James' organization, More Than a Vote, is partnering with Florida's Rights Restoration Coalition to raise money to pay court debts so they can vote.
About 1.4 million Floridians have felony convictions, including about one in five blacks.
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