TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s outgoing Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is calling on the U.S. Attorney General to investigate after former President Donald Trump claimed he sent federal authorities to South Florida to stop the 2018 election from “being stolen” from Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“When votes were being stolen by the corrupt Election process in Broward County,” Trump wrote in a series of posts on his Truth Social site blasting DeSantis, “I sent in the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys, and the ballot theft immediately ended.”
It’s unclear if Trump did call the Justice Department, but there is no evidence a federal investigation ensued.
DeSantis’ 2018 gubernatorial victory was confirmed by a recount.
In a letter sent to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, Fried, a Democrat, is now requesting an investigation into the allegations made by Trump.
“There was no broad allegation that the election was being stolen from Ron DeSantis in favor of Andrew Gillum,” Fried wrote to Garland.
“I know because I was on the ballot in 2018. Although there was a recount for both the race for governor, as well as my own, there was no fraud and no foul play. To my knowledge, there was no involvement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the Office of the United States Attorney.”
A spokesperson for the Broward County Supervisor of Elections told 10 Tampa Bay the office had "no documentation of any federal law enforcement presence during the 2018 elections" and no evidence of corruption.
Sarah Isgur, who was a spokesperson for the Justice Department during the Trump administration, tweeted "never happened” in response to the former president's baseless claim.
Following the 2018 election, then-Gov. Rick Scott filed lawsuits claiming south Florida election officials mishandled ballots and directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.
"No evidence of fraudulent intent" was found in the course of that investigation by state law enforcement.
An audit of the 2018 election in Broward County found it was “not efficiently and effectively conducted" but never alleged fraud or the mentioned federal investigators being involved.
Trump made these latest claims in a series of posts on Nov. 10 on his Truth Social site in which he blasted the media, Fox News and DeSantis, whom he dubbed “DeSanctimonious.” The statements followed DeSantis’ reelection victory which ratcheted up speculation over whether he’ll run for president in 2024.
Trump is expected to announce his 2024 presidential bid Tuesday night.