U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia’s former chief of staff is under FBI investigation for ties to a phony Tea Party candidate’s “secretly funded mail campaign,” according to The Miami Herald.
The Democrat’s former staffer, Jeffrey Garcia (no relation), had already been the focus of a criminal investigation for allegedly requesting absentee ballots for voters without permission. Jeffrey Garcia resigned his position as Rep. Garcia’s chief of staff in May, following revelations about the absentee ballots.
According to the Herald, Rep. Garcia has denied knowing about either scandal. From the Herald:
In the newly opened federal investigation, a political consultant who worked for Garcia’s campaign told the Herald and the FBI that Jeffrey Garcia was behind then-Tea Party candidate Roly Arrojo’s mailers that attacked a rival of Garcia’s, Republican David Rivera, in the 2010 congressional election.
