No criminal charges for Baugh’s vaccine VIP list. State judgment on ethics comes next
A criminal investigation into Commissioner Vanessa Baugh’s priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations didn’t yield any charges, but an ethics board will make a separate ruling on the case.
After four months of interviews and research, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said it did not believe Baugh’s order to have herself and four friends vaccinated broke state law, but an investigator said that action “may present certain ethical issues.” Baugh faces at least 18 ethics complaints about the directive and a judgment is expected later this year.
On Monday, the sheriff’s office published its 113-page report, which “clearly indicates” that Baugh “knowingly and intentionally attempted to obtain a benefit for herself and others,” but those actions did not break any laws and the county’s law enforcement agency does not enforce potential ethics violations.
According to the sheriff’s office, an investigator with the Florida Commission on Ethics inquired about the criminal investigation in May. He decided to postpone his own investigation until the sheriff’s office was finished and the sheriff’s office agreed to provide the state investigator with a copy of its report.
“Since statutory ethics violations do not fall within the purview of the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, this investigative report will be promptly forwarded to the Florida Commission on Ethics per their request,” the report concluded.
According to a Florida Commission on Ethics spokeswoman, complaints do not appear on the board’s agenda until there’s probable cause for the board to debate the issue. An agenda for the board’s next meeting has not been published yet and it’s unclear exactly when the board will make a ruling on the complaints against Baugh.
The state’s nine-member ethics board could take up the case as soon as next month when it hosts its next public meeting on July 23 in Tallahassee. If the board finds that Baugh acted unethically, it may recommend a fine of up to $10,000 or removal from office.
Michael Barfield, the Sarasota-based paralegal who first submitted the criminal complaint against Baugh, said he was impressed by the sheriff’s office’s exhaustive investigation but disagreed with its decision not to press charges. He also commended the report, which he believes will support the allegations in the ethics complaints that were submitted by others.
“I think it’s clear from the findings that Baugh is ethically challenged and I think she faces a very, very rough road ahead,” Barfield said. “The factual findings in that report lay a groundwork that is inescapable for the ethics commission.”
In a statement provided to the Bradenton Herald on Monday, Baugh’s attorney George Levesque agreed with the sheriff’s office’s determination that his client had not committed a crime. Levesque did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Baugh’s ethics complaints.
“After several months, their investigation confirms what we have maintained from the beginning: Commissioner Baugh violated no law and did nothing wrong,” he wrote. “Commissioner Baugh is moving past these political attempts to impugn and distract her and focusing on the work the people elected her to do.”
Baugh helped organize Lakewood Ranch vaccine event
In February, Baugh became involved in planning a state-run COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Lakewood Ranch after developer Rex Jensen called and asked for her help. He said Gov. Ron DeSantis wanted to bring a pop-up site to the area to boost Manatee County’s vaccination rate among seniors.
As she organized the event, the sheriff’s office said Baugh ordered county staff to restrict the vaccine site to two zip codes within the district she represents on the Board of County Commissioners. Staff told an investigator that they were concerned that the decision would go against the random nature of the Vaccine Standby Pool that the county used at the time.
Several high-level county employees participated in the sheriff’s office investigation. Former county administrator Cheri Coryea, Public Safety Director Jacob Saur and Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Elliott Falcione were interviewed as part of the investigation. The investigator spoke with more than 20 people, including Jensen, fellow developer Pat Neal and DeSantis’ chief of staff, Adrian Lukis.
Baugh’s decision restricted the availability of 3,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to about 7,200 eligible residents who live in the Lakewood Ranch area. In interviews with the sheriff’s office, IT staff said the order required them to manipulate the lottery system, altering their attempts to keep the vaccine distribution random and fair.
“Since he had not received any contravening guidance from the State, Saur complied and provided Baugh with the requested information. Baugh then told Saur that she needed to ensure people, including Rex Jensen, were going to receive the vaccination,” the sheriff’s office report said. “Baugh also told Saur that she was going to receive the vaccination herself because she organized the event.”
In an email sent to Saur just two days before the clinic, Baugh added five names to the list of residents in line to receive the vaccine. She listed the names, addresses and dates of birth for two of her former neighbors, Jensen, Jensen’s father and herself. Neither Jensen nor his father lives in one of the selected zip codes, which would have made them ineligible to receive the vaccine if not for Baugh’s direction.
Baugh’s email came shortly after her former neighbors sent their own email to the commissioner expressing frustration with the county’s “ridiculous random lottery.” She wrote back telling them to “stay tuned” to an event next week.
Throughout the course of the sheriff’s office’s investigation, several staffers told deputies that they understood Baugh’s list of names served as guidance to ensure those people received a vaccine. One employee said his supervisor asked him to make sure those five people were scheduled around the same time on the same day.
While Baugh did receive a call from staff scheduling her appointment at the Lakewood Ranch clinic, she ultimately decided to be vaccinated elsewhere, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jensen told the sheriff’s office that he did receive a vaccine at the event. Speaking with an investigator, Jensen said it was Baugh’s idea to offer him a vaccine, but she disputed that detail in her own interview.
“As to the list of five names of people to be vaccinated that Baugh had submitted, Jensen stated that Baugh had asked him if he would like to receive the vaccine,” an investigator wrote, describing their interview with Jensen. “Baugh also asked Jensen if there was anyone else he would like added to the list and he stated that he would his father to be added.”
Baugh’s conflicting statements
Baugh appeared to give conflicting statements to the sheriff’s office in her own interview, noting that she thought Jensen “deserved” the vaccine. Even though she offered to have Jensen’s father vaccinated as well, she claimed she never gave staff directions to make sure the people on her list were scheduled for shots.
“When asked about Jensen being placed on the list to receive the vaccine, Baugh said that during their planning of the event, she asked Jensen if he had been vaccinated. He said he had not and that he would like to get it,” an investigator wrote in his summary of Baugh’s interview.
“Baugh told Jensen that she would see what she could do. She felt he deserved to receive the vaccine due to his efforts in coordinating the event,” the report continued. “She also offered to have Jensen’s father vaccinated, but he did not receive it at that time.”
The vaccine VIP list led to a tumultuous time for Baugh, who came under fire from both residents and her fellow board members. In interviews with the sheriff’s office, each commissioner said they didn’t have prior knowledge of Baugh’s involvement in organizing the clinic.
Baugh also issued a public apology in February where she stated that she believed she was acting in the best interest of her constituents.
“Have I been upset over this? Yes. Do I feel terrible? Yes. Do I feel terrible over this VIP list, which it wasn’t? Yes, I do, but I stand by our governor,” she said at the time. “I thank him from the bottom of my heart for bringing in the vaccines that he did and I just hope that he’ll do it again.”
After learning that Baugh chose to restrict the zip codes and make sure she received a vaccine, some on the board made several attempts to remove her as chairman of the commission. As chair, Baugh leads the board’s public meetings and signs certain documents on behalf of the county.
Each vote failed as Baugh’s conservative allies rallied around her. After a third unsuccessful attempt, the board agreed to move forward with Baugh at the helm.
“I am very happy that Commissioner Baugh has been vindicated by the sheriff,” said Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge. “I hope now we can finally move on from this issue.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
