New emails deepen scandal around Miami election endorsement and bribery investigation

New records show that the office of former Miami city commissioner Sabina Covo sought to hire her former political opponent Eddy Leal between the general election and the runoff last November, adding weight to bribery allegations currently under criminal investigation by the State Attorney’s Office. The probe was prompted by public allegations that Covo bribed Leal with a City Hall job in exchange for Leal’s endorsement in the tight runoff race.

Covo denies that she ever offered Leal a job, much less as part of a quid pro quo, as was first alleged by one of her opponents on the podcast “Because Miami” in November. But the emails and text messages obtained by the Miami Herald, along with an interview with Covo’s former chief of staff, suggest Covo pushed her staff to hire Leal as an “expert consultant” at a time when Leal was looking for a city job and hoping to make a deal — previously unreported revelations that deepen the controversy over alleged impropriety surrounding a contentious election.

Leal did not respond to the Herald’s emails, calls or texts requesting comment for this article. In previous statements, Leal said his choice to endorse Covo in the runoff was based solely on her promise to “make our city proud” and that “anyone suggesting otherwise is nothing more than sour grapes.”

The two-week campaign between the general and runoff elections became a turf war between the two remaining candidates, Covo and Damian Pardo, who jockeyed for support from the other candidates who failed to advance to the runoff, which could give them the edge in a low-turnout municipal race.

Those 14 days provided the backdrop to political maneuvering that sparked an ongoing criminal investigation into Covo related to unlawful “remuneration by candidate” and bribery, one of several inquiries hanging over a City Hall beset by scandal.

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After his third-place finish in the Nov. 7 general election, Leal, who previously worked in the mayor’s office, went to City Manager Art Noriega to “express desire to return to the City of Miami in some capacity,” according to a city spokesperson. Noriega told Leal there were no openings available at the time, the spokesperson said. (Leal has previously denied that he discussed jobs at the meeting with Noriega.)

Around the same time, Leal also met separately with Covo and Pardo to discuss his runoff endorsement.

Pardo said that he, Leal and another anti-establishment candidate in the race had previously agreed to support whichever member of their trio was still in the race against Covo. But after meeting with Leal to discuss his endorsement, Pardo texted a friend “Leal on [the] fence.” Pardo’s Nov. 9 text went on to explain that Leal was seeking a “deal” involving a job offer.

Pardo said that during their meeting, Leal simply asked him questions about his campaign and then left without following up.

“He did tell me that he was going to be meeting with Covo later that afternoon,” Pardo recalled.

At that meeting, Covo’s campaign “asked me if I had any interest in returning to the city,” Leal said on Actualidad Radio 1040, a Spanish-language radio station, last November. Leal said he was interested but denied striking any deal. He denied ever entering into a pact with Pardo regarding a runoff endorsement.

Covo decided to offer Leal a contract with her office following their meeting about his endorsement, Covo’s then-chief of staff, Anthony Balzebre, told the Herald in an exclusive interview.

“After meeting with him, she instructed me to go forward with a consulting agreement for policy guidance and other purposes in the District 2 office,” Balzebre said. “That was a verbal directive from my boss at the time.”

He said he “disagreed with her on principle, and I was upfront about that.” But Balzebre said he ultimately followed his boss’ instructions and moved forward with the hiring process.

Emails show that on Nov. 13, Balzebre asked the city manager for authorization to hire Leal as an “expert consultant, to provide strategic advisory services to the City of Miami’s District 2 Office.” Twenty minutes later, he received a response.

“The Manager approves,” the email said.

Noriega did not question the timing of the hire, according to a statement from the city. Noriega denied any knowledge of a quid pro quo and said in the statement, to the best of his recollection, he never discussed Covo’s offer with Leal.

Balzebre said Leal was to be hired as a consultant under contract, as opposed to a full-fledged staff member in Covo’s City Hall office. But he said he never moved forward with an offer letter spelling out the terms of Leal’s contract.

The following day, Nov. 14, text messages show Leal received a request for comment regarding the alleged “deal you cut with Covo” from filmmaker Billy Corben, who first aired the allegations of a quid pro quo on the Nov. 17 episode of his podcast. Leal did not respond.

On the show, the fourth-place candidate in the District 2 race, James Torres, said that following the Nov. 7 election, Covo had offered both him and Leal positions in exchange for their endorsements. Torres said he declined but accused Leal of taking the deal. Torres previously told the Herald he was summoned to the State Attorney’s Office for an interview on the subject following his appearance on Corben’s show.

On Nov. 21, Pardo beat Covo, unseating her after she spent about nine months in office.

In an interview with the Herald on Tuesday, Covo reiterated that she never offered Leal a job and denied instructing Balzebre to hire Leal. She was not copied on Balzebre’s email to the manager and claimed to have “no knowledge” of her top aide’s request for approval to hire Leal.

“I have not seen anything,” Covo said. “Nothing.”

Covo had no answer as to why Balzebre would hire Leal, an attorney, as a consultant without her knowledge or approval. He denied her version of events.

“I wouldn’t have done this on my own volition, or without her approval, or without any boss’s approval,” Balzebre responded. “It’s really unfortunate that she is deflecting and not taking accountability here, but I’m not going to do that for her.”

Covo referred further questions to an attorney, who said the former commissioner “denies Balzebre’s allegations and will defend herself against any unfounded accusations.”

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Pardo said Covo’s version of events “makes absolutely no sense,” adding that the timing of Balzebre’s authorization request “confirms the idea that something was going on in terms of a job offer in that window” between the general election and the runoff.

Following the election, Balzebre stayed on with the District 2 office as Pardo’s chief of staff.

Balzebre’s account of events, and in particular his email, could become key elements in the ongoing criminal investigation, which first became public in February after Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order transferring the case to the Broward State Attorney’s office due to a potential conflict of interest with Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

The order noted a “key witness” in the case, thought to be Democratic consultant Christian Ulvert, “is a close associate of the state attorney’s office.”