Two former Florida prosecutors are accusing the state Attorney General of firing them for going after mortgage lenders too aggressively.
The Sun Sentinel reported that Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson were abruptly fired by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at the end of May and say the attention they were focusing on combating mortgage fraud was the reason.
“Obviously we did our job too well,” Edwards told the Sentinel. “We were making too much noise.”
Bondi’s chief of staff Carlos Muniz released a long statement to the newspaper which said that Edwards and Clarkson were let go because of problems related to “proper identification and analysis of legal issues … judgment in discussing matters related to pending investigations with third parties … and … professionalism to opposing counsel.”
But both women had consistently received strong evaluations, according to the Sentinel. So what gives?
Edwards told the newspaper in an email that she and Clarkson “were pleased that the Attorney General’s Office was dedicating more attorneys to foreclosure fraud, but said she also found it curious that they would do so without letting the two lawyers provide any transition notes on their cases,” the newspaper reported.
“I will be interested to see the results of all the hours and energy that is now being used on these investigations,” Edwards wrote. Reported the Sentinel:
Edwards and Clarkson attracted widespread media attention for the exposure of foreclosure mills, turning up fraudulent signatures and fake names on documents being used to oust people from their homes. Documents didn’t have the correct dates. Large financial institutions couldn’t always produce the proper paperwork.But as the women were racking up cases, Bondi also came under fire for being soft on mortgage lenders.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.