Suarez’s VIP appearances at F1, World Cup spark complaint to state ethics commission

The Florida Commission on Ethics is reviewing a complaint over Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s attendance at exclusive, high-priced sporting events since the start of 2022, the Miami Herald has learned.

The complaint was filed by Democratic activist and city of Miami resident Thomas Kennedy. It asks ethics officials to investigate Suarez’s VIP access to various events, including the Miami Formula One race in May 2023, and whether somebody else paid.

Suarez — who was invited along with his wife to this year’s race by a billionaire with business before the city — says he reimbursed the businessman. He did not provide proof. If he did repay in full, the tickets would not be a gift and he would not have to disclose them.

In addition to this year’s Formula One race and affiliated luxe parties, Kennedy pointed to Suarez’s attendance at the same events last year along with the mayor’s trip to Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. At the World Cup, Suarez was photographed with retired soccer star and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham, who is a registered lobbyist for the team.

A month before he launched his current bid for the Republican presidential nomination, Suarez raised eyebrows by appearing in the VIP section at the racetrack with his wife — access that would have cost tens of thousands of dollars. The Herald reported that the invitations were provided by Ken Griffin, CEO of the hedge fund Citadel and a deep-pocketed political donor.

State laws would prohibit Griffin from giving city officials expensive gifts — anything over $100 — because Citadel has registered lobbyists at City Hall on multiple projects. Gifts from lobbyists worth less than that must be disclosed quarterly.

Gifts worth in excess of $100 from non-lobbyists must also be publicly disclosed quarterly.

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When a reporter told Griffin’s spokesman that the 2023 tickets, if provided free or at a discount, would run afoul of Florida’s ethics laws, Griffin and Suarez both said Suarez “appropriately covered the cost.” Griffin said any insinuations to the contrary would be “troubling, irresponsible, and misleading to readers.”

But in response to a records request from the Miami Herald, Suarez and the city said no such public records exist.

Asked Monday night if Griffin had a comment on the newly filed ethics allegation, a spokesperson referred the Herald to Griffin’s previously published letter to the editor, which states that Suarez covered his costs.

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In instances when a Miami official receives a gift worth over $100 from a lobbyist, ethics laws allows 90 days to reimburse, a window of time that closed in early August, days before an Aug. 7 letter was sent to the mayor notifying him of Kennedy’s complaint citing Formula One.

Suarez’s next public gift disclosure is due at the end of September.

Should the ethics commission launch a formal inquiry, investigators would have the power to subpoena records, including any proof of Suarez’s payment in full.

The mayor declined to comment on Monday.

Kennedy said he filed the complaint because “I am tired of clear corrupt and unethical behavior by Miami elected officials.”

In his complaint filed July 28, Kennedy also requested scrutiny of Suarez’s presence at the 2022 Formula One event, including affiliated parties. Suarez has declined to discuss if anyone covered his admission to that event. He did not list tickets to 2022’s Formula One race in his state-mandated gift disclosure forms. Nor did he disclose any tickets or airfare related to his travel to last year’s World Cup match between France and Morocco.

Florida Commission on Ethics spokeswoman Lynn Blais said she could neither confirm nor deny the existence of a complaint, but documents reviewed by the Herald confirm the commission received the complaint and initiated a preliminary review to decide if a full investigation is needed.

The commission has assigned a staff attorney to review Kennedy’s complaint and determine if what it alleges violates any part of the state’s code of ethics, such as the laws on gifts, Kennedy was told in an email from commission staff. During this process, staffers determine if a full investigation should be ordered or if they will recommend to the commission a finding that the complaint did not meet legal sufficiency, according to Caroline Klancke, former general counsel for the state ethics commission and current executive director of the Florida Ethics Institute.

If the commission’s executive director orders an investigation, the process could take a while to gather documents and interview witnesses before the commission could determine whether here is probable cause for a violation.

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Kennedy also filed a complaint with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, the county-level ethics oversight board. The commission, in an email to Kennedy, acknowledged receiving the complaint in an email. On Monday, the agency’s spokesman, Leonardo Mendoza, said he could not confirm or deny the existence of an ethics investigation before there’s a decision on whether there is probable cause.

County ethics officials are already working with the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office to investigate Suarez’s business relationship with embattled developer Rishi Kapoor, a businessman who paid the mayor at least $170,000 in consulting fees while Kapoor sought critical approvals from city administrators on a real estate project in Coconut Grove. Revelation of the payments also sparked an FBI investigation.

Suarez, an attorney and private equity executive, has said the arrangement had nothing to do with his duties as mayor and that he welcomes the scrutiny from authorities. He has been campaigning for the GOP nomination since mid-June.