A group that represents older Floridians is asking the state attorney in Tallahassee to investigate Governor Scott's decision to erase voice messages from a nursing home in Broward County.
Fourteen residents at The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills died after the air-conditioning failed during Hurricane Irma and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans says calls from the home to Rick Scott's number were sent to voice mail.
An attorney for the Alliance claims those voice messages were public records and Scott had no right to destroy them. The governor's office says they're not, so he did.
The Florida Alliance of Retired Americans issued the following statement after submitting a formal request for investigation to Leon County State Attorney, Jack Campbell:
Governor Scott has a long and disturbing record of putting Florida seniors at risk. Governor Scott and his administration admitted to covering up details about the mistreatment of seniors in critical nursing home inspection reports, ignored public records requests and deleted four voicemails from the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center in the lead up to the tragic death of 14 seniors,” said NAME of Florida Alliance of Retired Americans.
Today, the Florida Alliance of Retired Americans is formally calling on the Leon County State Attorney to open an investigation into Governor Scott’s involvement in the deaths of 14 seniors at the Hollywood Hills Rehabilitation Center, including the destruction of evidence and public records by deleting voicemails from the nursing home to Governor Scott’s cell phone.