Left to right: Eric Cantor, an unnamed David Rivera assistant, Marco Rubio, and David Rivera.
Eric Cantor has a bit of a problem brewing: he's closely linked himself to David Rivera, the likely GOP nominee in Florida's 25th CD -- a troubled candidate who has been accused of not just of domestic violence but also lying to cover it up. Miami Herald:
The allegation arises from a 1994 petition for a domestic-violence restraining order filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against one David M. Rivera. The court file has been destroyed -- by law, family court files are not retained after five years -- along with any details or additional identifying information. Only a computer record of the docket is available today.
The restraining order was dropped after a month, and no criminal charges were filed, records show. But inconsistencies in Rivera's responses to the claim in years past and today have helped make it a campaign issue heading into the Aug. 24 Republican primary, a Miami Herald/WFOR-CBS 4 review has found.
``The 1994 case has absolutely nothing to do with me. I am not the David Rivera in that case, and to suggest otherwise is a blatant and shameful lie,'' Rivera said in his statement.
Rivera -- whose middle name is Mauricio -- also said that he has never met the woman who made the 1994 complaint, Jenia Dorticos. Dorticos, who now lives in New York, gave a sworn statement to Rivera's attorneys saying she does not know the politician and that he was not the target of her complaint.
However, a Miami woman who says she is friendly with Dorticos' brother told The Herald that Rivera and Dorticos came to her home as a couple to attend a dinner party about 10 years ago. Dorticos' mother also once worked on one of Rivera's political campaigns, records show. Rivera and Dorticos deny attending the party.
Rivera declined to be interviewed for this story, and his campaign would discuss the matter only through questions submitted in writing.
The campaign of Rivera's Democratic opponent, Joe Garcia, asks three big questions raised by the Herald's reporting:
- How did David Rivera get the domestic violence victim's brother to claim he does not know Alejandra Diaz? Ms. Diaz is the eye-witness who told The Miami Herald that David Rivera and the victim had dinner with her once and dated in the 1990's. It is also known that Ms. Diaz is close to the victim's family as she dated her brother.
- What are the odds that David Rivera does not know the victim in question, yet a "David M. Rivera" (same name as the candidate) is listed as the repeat offender in her case AND it is known that he is so close to her mother that he paid her as a campaign staffer in 2006 AND was photographed with her at a party as recently as this year AND the two knew each other in 2002?
- How does David Rivera claim he does not know the victim in 2010 when according to his former campaign adviser, Al Lorenzo, the two were coordinating a response in 2002 in the event the allegation ever surfaced? The Miami Herald reported that a 2002 flier paid for and approved by David Rivera's state representative campaign had a photograph of the victim
Even though these questions remain unanswered and despite the inconsistencies in Rivera's handling of the situation, both past and present, Eric Cantor has lent his strong support to Rivera's campaign. As the DCCC notes, Cantor named Rivera "to the top NRCC Young Guns program, contributing to his campaign and campaigning with him in Florida." As DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider says:
"Eric Cantor is sending a clear message to women: dangerous, scandal plagued candidates like David Rivera represent the kind of leadership Republicans are offering voters this November."
Fortunately for voters in FL-25, Democrats are putting forward a good alternative: Joe Garcia.
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