Florida ethics panel: Fried didn't properly disclose income

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida ethics panel on Wednesday announced it has found probable cause that Democratic candidate for governor Nikki Fried violated state law for failing to properly disclose her income on financial forms.

The Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that Fried, who is also the state agriculture commissioner, did not correctly disclose lobbying income on financial forms from 2017 and 2018. A Republican Party official filed a complaint with the ethics board in June after Fried amended her filings to reflect the previously unreported income.

A spokesperson for Fried's campaign said she is being targeted for fixing her disclosures and criticized the ruling as baseless and politically driven, noting that the complaint was filed days after Fried amended her forms and announced her candidacy.

"Consistent with the administration’s regular practice of feeding false information to its subordinate agencies, Commissioner Fried is being attacked for following the law and showing transparency, exactly the opposite of what Republican Ron DeSantis and his cohorts do every day," said campaign spokesperson Drew Godinich.

He said Fried will request that an administrative law judge dismiss the complaint.