MIAMI (WSVN) - Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on Wednesday was cleared by the Florida Commission on Ethics after an investigation was launched following a complaint he violated ethics laws.
In September 2023, the state commission launched an investigation into claims that Suarez accepted all-expense-paid flights and VIP seating to events, including Miami’s Formula 1 Grand Prix and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, in exchange for political influence.
The complaint questioned who paid for those tickets, which was worth thousands of dollars.
Suarez is required by law to disclose all gifts of $100 or more and is not allowed to receive tickets from city vendors, lobbyists or their employers.
The commission so far determined that no probable cause was found on three allegations. The mayor on Wednesday reacted to the commission’s decision.
“I’m not shocked or surprised, but the truth is, I’m shocked and surprised that it even got here,” he said.
Democratic political activist Thomas Kennedy filed the complaint last September. In Wednesday’s New Times, he blasted the ethics probe as being “poorly conducted.”
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