Florida Rep. Val Demings’ (D) senatorial campaign continues to face controversy in the form of ethics violation complaints. Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s (R) reelection team is now criticizing the Florida Democrat over a fourth ethics violation complaint that has been directed to her.
The complaint, addressed by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), argues that “Demings remotely attended a House Judiciary Committee meeting on April 5, while at the same time as the proceedings, she joined over Zoom to promote her campaign for U.S. Senate.”
The complaint was obtained by Fox News Digital, and it’s reported that “during the committee hearing on the domestic Terrorism Prevention Act, Demings made use of the House’s rules allowing representatives to attend proceeding remotely in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.” The senatorial hopeful “voted on amendments, but a campaign video shows her apologizing for having to listen in to the Judiciary Committee so she could hear when it was her turn to respond to the roll call.”
As per the recording obtained by FACT, Demings is allegedly heard saying “of course I’ve been looking so forward to being with the Duval Caucus, and here I am stuck in a markup in Judiciary so I apologize for the background noise, but of course I am also listening to the hearing there, so I know when it is time for me to vote.”
In response to the ethics violation complaint, Elizabeth Gregory, Rubio’s communications director, expressed that “it is utterly disgraceful that Val Demings thinks of her congressional duties as ‘background noise,’” adding that “this eye-popping fourth ethics violation proves Demings will always put her own political career first.”
Gregory also affirmed that “the people of Florida deserve better than a three-term Pelosi Puppet who has done nothing more than rename a couple of post offices.”
Previous ethics violation complaints Demings has received include using her official Twitter account to direct people to her campaign account, having her federal campaign committee send fundraising solicitations with Common Good Virginia, “Terry McAuliffe's soft money PAC,” and using “taxpayer-funded franked mail to send a 12-page, campaign-style mailer to Floridians outside her district.”
