Carolina Amesty reportedly under investigation by FDLE

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) has reportedly launched an investigation looking into Rep. Carolina Amesty.

That’s according to The Orlando Sentinel, though Amesty’s campaign said the Windermere Republican has not yet been contacted by the FDLE.

The investigation comes after Sentinel reporting called into question representations by and about Central Christian University. Amesty previously worked as Vice President of the school, founded by her father, Juan Carlos Amesty.

Reporting by the local newspaper has included claims that Amesty notarized a form listing Robert Shaffer as an employee, though he said he did not work there. Amesty’s campaign said Shaffer taught at a K-12 school under the university’s business umbrella, something other employees confirmed in affidavits. Those employees also said he had memory issues.

The local reporting prompted a complaint by a citizen to the state calling for an investigation into whether Amesty as a notary violated the law by notarizing the work documents.

The newspaper reported the notary division of the Governor’s Office has also opened an investigation, and provided a letter to the complainant that said “the purpose of this investigation is to aid the Governor in the evaluation of the notary’s fitness to serve in public office.”

The Sentinel has also reported on a page of the university’s site claiming the institution had other employees with graduate-level degrees who did not work there. The campaign has said faculty forms submitted by the university to the state included potential faculty it was seeking to have preapproved for hire.

Amesty pushed back on much of the reporting.

“The Sentinel’s highly misleading story is the first I have heard of any kind of inquiry into this media-generated controversy,” Amesty said in a statement to Florida Politics.

“It is absolutely ridiculous for anyone to claim that Dr. Shaffer did not work at the school. We have provided the Sentinel with official records, photographs, and affidavits from his former colleagues confirming his employment. They have omitted this information from their articles in an attempt to drum up an inquiry against me, which I am confident will reveal no wrongdoing. The Sentinel’s conduct is simply outrageous.”

Amesty won election to the House in 2022 representing House District 45. That’s a swing district where 54% of voters in 2022 supported Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ re-election but where 52% of voters in 2022 favored Democrat Joe Biden for President.

She was previously sued by a legislative aide who said she wrongly accused him of trying to run her down in a car.

Amesty argued in court that she had absolute immunity for statements made while performing her duties, and that the allegation was not published and only made in conversation to the aide’s employer, Rep. Fabian Basabe.

A Judge ruled in Amesty’s favor in April.

The Republican is up for re-election in November, where she faces Democrat Leonard Spencer. She has maintained a fundraising advantage.