Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) has been on the offensive with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) in her bid to unseat him. However, Fried is now facing criticism from the Republican Governors Association. In a newly released statement, Joanna Rodriguez, the Republican Governors Association Spokesperson, criticizes the gubernatorial hopeful, mentioning that “it’s been 55 days since Nikki Fried was supposed to file her financial disclosure.” The Agriculture Commissioner is now “just a week away from her being charged $25 per day she doesn’t file.”
In an email directed to the press, Rodriguez explained that “Florida officials holding elected office, like Fried, are required to turn in their annual financial disclosure for the previous year on July 1.” Citing a report showing that Fried failed to report “earnings of $351, 480,” Rodriguez added that “now her 2020 report is STILL no where to be found.”
As a result of not filing by the deadline, “elected officials are charged $25 a day if they don’t file by September 1.”
In her statement, Rodriguez expressed that “it’s been nearly two months since the filing deadline, and Nikki Fried still either doesn’t know or is intentionally trying to hide how much money flowed into her bank account last year.” She added that “given the number of times she had to edit it in the past and the hundreds of thousands of dollars she failed to disclose, there’s no telling what is causing the delay on Fried’s report.” However, Rodriguez asserts that “one thing is clear,” which is that “Floridians can’t trust Nikki Fried to accurately understand or communicate any basic data – whether it is her own or the state’s.”
