For weeks, Gov. Rick Scott hardly blinked at the conflict-of-interest speculation regarding whether the urgent-care clinic owned by his wife would benefit from policies that he supports. (Metaphors aside, Scott hardly blinks at all. In this interview, it looks like someone sliced off his eyelids and he's happy about it.)
He seemed numb to the criticism and blind to what so many people saw as a glaring ethical lapse. Rachel Maddow blasted him on national television. Some Key West residents planned to send him a giant jug of urine. But Scott insisted he was "not involved in that company." Meh.
Now, on the heels of an ethics complaint, Scott has suddenly finalized a deal to sell off his family's shares of Solantic for less than the $62 million he claimed they were worth.
The sale, however, doesn't prohibit Solantic from doing business with the state, according to the Miami Herald. The company is free to bid on and win state contracts.
Inquiries about Scott's highly questionable, potentially unethical
relationship with Solantic began to arise after
legislative proposals to overhaul Medicaid seemed beneficial to Scott's
private interest, thus conflicting with his role as governor. Then he signed
an executive order to drug-test all state employees, knowing that $35
drug tests are one of Solantic's most popular services. The next
week, Scott came out and fully backed a measure to drug-test all welfare applicants.
The pressure mounted. On Monday, the St. Petersburg Times reported that David Plyer had filed an ethics complaint against Scott. By Wednesday, a New York-based investment firm had scooped up Solantic on the cheap.
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