Florida‘s Republican attorney general urged the FBI and state authorities to investigate former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s pledge to spend $16 million helping felons regain their voting rights in the nation’s largest swing state, reports Politico. Attorney General Ashley Mood told law enforcement officials she was asked by Gov. Ron DeSantis to review the donation Bloomberg announced on Tuesday. “After preliminarily reviewing this limited public information and law, it appears further investigation is warranted,” Moody wrote to FBI agent Michael McPherson in Tampa and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Richard Swearingen.
The move comes two weeks before Florida’s voter registration deadline and 12 days after a federal appeals court upheld a restrictive new state law that requires felons to clear court debts before registering to vote. State Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis also called for an inquiry into Bloomberg’s effort, asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether Bloomberg is “breaking the law by giving direct cash for voters.” A spokesperson for Bloomberg, who has pledged to spend $100 million in Florida to help Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump, accused Republicans of playing politics with voter rights. “This transparent political ploy is just the latest example of Republicans attempting to keep Floridians disenfranchised,“ said spokesperson Jason Schechter.