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Florida s agriculture commissioner, Democrat Nikki Fried, is a close friend of Matt Gaetz.
They even hung out at the Trump hotel in Washington, DC, not long ago, a source told Insider.
Insiders are buzzing about how her relationship with Gaetz might affect her political prospects.
When insurgents attacked the US Capitol on January 6, the first person who checked in on Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz wasn t a fellow conservative.
Instead, it was Nikki Fried, a Democrat and Florida s agriculture commissioner, who s poised to run for governor against Ron DeSantis, a Republican.
Matt Gaetz helped set off Florida s marijuana green rush Some of his friends, allies scored big
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Matt Gaetz helped launch Florida marijuana green rush Allies scored big
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TALLAHASSEE Ahead of a likely bid to try and unseat Gov. Ron DeSantis, a new spotlight is focused on Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried’s friendship with embattled Rep. Matt Gaetz and their role lobbying for the state’s marijuana industry.
Before running for Agriculture Commission in 2018, Fried was a prominent marijuana lobbyist who helped boost Florida’s nascent marijuana industry. It was a policy issue that created a long-time bipartisan relationship with Gaetz, who has positioned himself as one of the leading pro-pot Republicans in the country a reputation that goes back as far as 2014 when Gaetz, then-state lawmaker, sponsored a measure that legalized low-THC cannabis for medical use under a licensing scheme carried out by state regulators.
By Vivian KaneMay 3rd, 2021, 2:31 pm
The Justice Department’s probe into Matt Gaetz continues to spiral. What began as an investigation into a low-level Florida official’s alleged criminal activity spurred the probe into allegations that Gaetz may have trafficked and paid an underage girl for sex. And now it’s expanded into an inquiry involving possible attempts to exploit the medical marijuana industry for personal gain.
In 2014, Gaetz co-sponsored Florida’s first statewide measure allowing for medical marijuana use. Before we throw him a parade, it should be noted that his bill–which only authorized the use of a high-CBD/low-THC non-smokable marijuana extract for patients with cancer or severe neurological conditions–was presented as a much more restrictive alternative to a ballot measure heading to the polls that same year that would have legalized broader medical marijuana use. A few months after Gaetz’s bill was signed into law, the ballot measure ended up faili