It's been a lon-held belief that the Diaz-Balart family is corrupt. But if this story turns out to be true, we're going well beyond Abramoff territory. According to the Miami Herald, Lincoln Diaz-Balart is being accused of accepting a whole wad of unreported campaign cash from a Puerto Rico family.
Now things are really heating up! Raul Martinez and state Democrats at a Miami press conference today looked to tie Lincoln Diaz-Balart to Puerto Rican senator Jorge de Castro Font, who was arrested by the FBI.
Dems charge that de Castro Font has "implicated" Diaz-Balart by alleging to "have traveled to Miami with Congressman Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico to deliver a suitcase full of cash for Diaz-Balart's re-election campaign." The money was allegedly from a prominent PR family.
Diaz-Balart's campaign has called it a "desperate attack" and the congressman told reporters today that he got two checks from the family in 2006 -- totalling about $400.
De Castro Font in an interview with a PR TV station, said the alleged trip took place in 2005 -- long before Diaz-Balart's challenge from Martinez. De Castro Font has been indicted by a federal grand jury on 31 criminal counts including bribery, wire fraud and money laundering. He’s also peeved that Fortuño has tried to distance himself from him since the scandal broke, and even tried to remove him from the November ballot. Fortuño is running for governor, and de Castro Font seeks reelection.
Not being from Florida or PR, I do not know anything about De Font, Fortuno or the family in question. But I know there is a lot seediness surrounding the Diaz-Balarts and Cuban-American politics. I also know that South Florida Republicans are not so clean, so this story would shock me if it turns out to be true. Stay tuned for more.