A Florida sheriff’s department is investigating whether a county commissioner violated state law after creating a VIP vaccine list and helping to establish coronavirus emergency clinics in two wealthy zip codes.
The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into Commissioner Vanessa Baugh since she was involved in a scandal last week. In emails first obtained by the Bradenton Herald, Baugh reportedly discussed putting herself and some of her friends who were not eligible to receive the vaccine at this time on a VIP list to skip the line.
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But a vote by a council of commissioners for her dismissal failed on Tuesday, meaning she can remain in office.
A recent complaint lodged at the sheriff’s office by Sarasota paralegal Michael Barfield alleges that Baugh may have violated at least one of three state statutes: misuse of public position, official misconduct and misuse of confidential information, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
“When Baugh entered individuals and herself on a COVID-19 vaccine distribution list, she acted in a manner contrary to the adopted Vaccine Standby Pool and used her official position to secure a special privilege, benefit or exemption for her and others,” she wrote Barfield.
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Governor Ron DeSantis has allocated 3,000 vaccines to two zip codes in Rancho Lakewood. Baugh said it was her idea to choose the two specific zip codes, one of which is where she resides, and DeSantis chose her district first because she wanted to concentrate vaccines in areas with a large elderly population, reported Bay News 9.
“I apologized to my constituents and colleagues for the lack of judgment,” Baugh said in a statement to the WWSB on Monday. “These insignificant so-called party policies are nothing more than the divisive policy that our nation needs to move away from. I will continue to work to bring more vaccines to Manatee County and lead us through this pandemic.”
Baugh told the station that he did not receive the vaccine. She did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News on Thursday.
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Democrats in Manatee County, as well as US Congressman Charlie Crist, D-Fla., Have asked Baugh to step down. But a vote on a motion to remove Baugh, called by Commissioner Reggie Bellamy, was not passed on Tuesday.