Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins, who is seeking re-election, this week falsely claimed that the Fraternal Order of Police’s Flagler/Palm Coast lodge and the local 10-13 club of retired New York City Police officers support him. Presidents of both organizations sharply disavowed the claim and criticized Mullins for the fabrications.
For Mullins, it was only the latest in a series of embarrassing or defiant run-ins with law enforcement over the past several weeks, a constituency he claims to support and respect.
Twice last month Mullins disrespected and attempted to pull rank on Florida Highway Patrol troopers in two separate speeding incidents. He was trying to avoid getting ticketed by abusing his authority, claiming that “I run the county” or that he is “over the state.” It did not work: in one encounter, a trooper warned him that he would go to jail if he persisted in defying orders.
Mullins, who is barely five weeks away from the Aug. 23 primary (he faces fellow-Republican Leann Pennington) has been reeling from criticism over his encounters, which were recorded on the troopers’ videos and made national news. He has been looking for ways to burnish his threadbare credentials and beat back perceptions of flagrant hypocrisy. (On Tuesday, he donated $500 to the GoFundMe account of the family of Chelsea Hawk, who died in a car crash Sunday and who Mullins ceaselessly tormented and vilified online over the last few years.)
This week, Mullins extended the disrespect...
ST. GEORGE, Utah (ABC4) — A Utah podiatrist and two nurses have been federally indicted on fraud charges after they allegedly submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for skin substitute services, ...