Government watchdog Thomas F. Reynolds, Jr. has filed a complaint of Hatch Act violations against SHOAR with the United States Office of Special Counsel.
SHOAR wrote a letter on Sheriff's Department letterhead endorsing ANDREA SAMUELS, controversial St. Augustine Beach City Commissioner, available on SAMUELS' website.
As a recipient of federal funds, such politicization is forbidden. In 2008, the Marion County Sheriff appeared in a campaign rally with Presidential candidate John McCain, and was blasted for it.
Posted October 26, 2016 06:42 am
By stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com
By stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com
Visit, tweet from Trump puts Sheriff’s Office in confusing spot
It’s become pretty clear by now that just about every interaction with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump comes with controversy — and often an explanation.
The latest to experience that is the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff’s Office accommodated a request from the Trump campaign to allow the nominee to meet with first responders and other personnel while visiting the area for a rally Monday afternoon.
Images from the meeting were posted on the Sheriff’s Office Facebook page, which led many to believe it was an endorsement of Trump’s candidacy.
Chief among those were leaders of the Trump campaign. They tweeted: “Honored to receive an endorsement from @SJSOPIO - thank you! Together, we are going to MAKE AMERICA SAFE &GREAT AGAIN!”
The tweet was even retweeted by the Sheriff’s Office and later taken down, adding to the confusion.
Since then, the Sheriff’s Office has tried to clarify the situation, posting on Facebook that “Comments have been made that the SJSO has endorsed a candidate for president. The Sheriff’s Office nor Sheriff Shoar have made any endorsement of a presidential candidate, on behalf of the men and women of the SJSO.”
A Sept. 28 post on the Trump for Florida Facebook page has a statement in support of Trump from a dozen Florida sheriffs, and Shoar is among those on the list.
On Tuesday, Shoar said he did not sign anything that should be construed as an endorsement. He said he’s had conversations with other sheriffs saying he supports Trump over Hillary Clinton, but that’s as far as he will go.
“As far as an official endorsement or anything like that, it never happened,” Shoar said.
Although Shoar is quite possibly the most prominent Republican office holder in the county, he did not speak at Monday’s rally at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre. He didn’t even attend it.
Cmdr. Chuck Mulligan, Sheriff’s Office spokesman, said there have been a lot of people convinced the organization officially endorsed Trump. He said the Sheriff’s Office will not make an endorsement.
While some people might find it odd that a law enforcement office would entertain a candidate for political office (and in particular one not holding a current office), Mulligan said it was an opportunity with a presidential candidate that they didn’t want to pass up.
“When a candidate for the president of the United States says, ‘I’d like to come in and listen to your concerns about living in the world of law enforcement today,’ well, certainly you’re going to take the opportunity to discuss issues that are before us,” Mulligan said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean that an endorsement was made by doing that.”
Shoar said he was asked by the Trump campaign to host a round-table discussion of first responders in the area, and he agreed to do that. But he said that didn’t constitute any formal endorsement.
According to other news outlets, this has been an issue for the Trump campaign.
NBC News reported Tuesday that Trump said he had an endorsement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is the agency tasked with deporting undocumented immigrants. However, federal agencies are not allowed to endorse candidates.
The news site said Trump has “overstated his standing with local police departments.” It also noted that he has picked up endorsements from the federal police union, the Fraternal Order of Police.