TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - Tallahassee city commissioner Scott Maddox paid a law firm $125,000 from his 2020 state senator general election fund, according to state records.
According to records at the Florida Department of State Division of Elections, Scott Maddox paid the law firm Baker Donelson $125,000 from his 2020 state senator general election fund on March 23.
Allie Flemming, Maddox's aid, released the following statement to WTXL ABC 27 on behalf of Maddox:
"For over four years I have personally funded my defense against spurious complaints initiated by one person that continue to be proven without merit. Fueled by media coverage, the latest accusations have already had a severely detrimental effect on my 2020 campaign.
In order to remain a viable candidate, I must clear my name. Thus, after receiving a legal opinion stating that it was proper, I authorized a campaign expenditure to do just that."
Stephen Dobson III, who's an attorney for Maddox and a shareholder at Baker Donelson, issued a statement as well:
"We believe when the entire story is told, Scott Maddox will be vindicated. Scott has been a good and decent City Commissioner and has always put the interests of Tallahassee first and foremost," said Dobson. "I urge everybody not to rush to judgment when only one side of the story is being told--and that is a very slanted and biased version by the FBI."
Scott, along with the CEO of the Downtown Improvement Authority Paige Carter-Smith, is the subject of a focused FBI investigation into bribery and mail fraud.
The affidavit surrounds a company called 'Governance, Inc.,' which Maddox owned and reportedly sold to Carter-Smith.
