State law-enforcement officials have moved from a 鈥渞eview鈥� phase into an 鈥渋nformation gathering process鈥� as they look into former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg helping Florida felons pay outstanding legal costs so they could register to vote.
鈥淚n a preliminary inquiry --- where we are now --- we start to obtain documents and conduct research,鈥� Gretl Plessinger, a Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokeswoman, said in an email Thursday.
鈥淎 case moves into a full investigation when a criminal predicate has been established --- verified information that reasonably indicates a crime may have occurred. Currently no criminal predicate has been established,鈥� she said.
No timeline has been set for the investigation. Attorney General Ashley Moody, acting upon a request from Gov. Ron DeSantis, asked for the investigation on Sept. 23 after Bloomberg raised at least $16 million for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Bloomberg has vowed to pump more than $100 million into Florida to assist Democrat Joe Biden鈥檚 presidential bid, and Moody contends the assistance to the coalition could be a violation of laws against offering incentives to people or groups in exchange for voting in a particular manner.
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition has collected more than $20 million for a 鈥淔ines and Fees鈥� fund established in response to a state law and a recent court ruling requiring felons to pay 鈥渓egal financial obligations鈥� --- fees, fines, costs and restitution --- to be eligible to vote. Democrats have labeled the investigation request political theater.
