Political consultant could be witness in investigation of former Miami commissioner
Late last year, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told Gov. Ron DeSantis that she needed to step away from an investigation into bribery allegations at Miami City Hall because a possible witness was “someone closely associated with this office,” according to a letter obtained by the Miami Herald.
“Allegations recently came into our office about a promise(s) made by one or more candidates for public office in exchange for support,” reads the Dec. 13 letter from Fernandez Rundle’s office to DeSantis. The request explained that the close associate of the State Attorney’s Office attended a meeting that is now part of the investigation into former Miami Commissioner Sabina Covo.
The existence of the investigation became public after DeSantis’ office granted the request earlier this month, assigning the case to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office.
The alleged scheme referenced in the letters appears to line up with allegations made in the days before the November runoff election where Covo, then Miami’s District 2 commissioner, lost to challenger Damian Pardo. Candidate James Torres, a downtown activist who failed to make the runoff, accused Covo of offering him a six-figure job in exchange for his endorsement.
The circumstances suggest the unidentified witness to the meeting could be Christian Ulvert, Covo’s political consultant at the time and an adviser to Fernandez Rundle’s 2020 reelection campaign.
During an appearance on Actualidad Radio 1040 AM in November, days after Torres publicly accused Covo of trying to orchestrate a “quid pro quo,” Ulvert said he was present at two meetings with Torres and Covo to discuss a possible endorsement.
“I was there. I was the one who communicated directly with James Torres,” Ulvert said on the radio segment, one day before the Nov. 21 runoff.
Ulvert has twice worked on campaigns to reelect Fernandez Rundle. State campaign finance records show his consulting firm was paid about $658,000 for her 2020 campaign. During her 2016 reelection bid, Ulvert’s company was paid about $37,700.
Ed Griffith, a spokesman for Miami-Dade’s state attorney, said it would be inappropriate for Fernandez Rundle to comment on an open investigation, even if it is no longer being handled by her office.
On Actualidad Radio, Ulvert discussed the meetings and denied Torres’ claims that Covo had offered him a $120,000 consulting contract at the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency, which she controlled at the time. Torres first discussed the allegations on documentarian Billy Corben’s podcast, Because Miami.
Covo has denied wrongdoing and has called Torres’ allegations “categorically and unequivocally false.” On Tuesday, she said that she has not been contacted by investigators and that she had no information about the unnamed witness.
In an interview Tuesday, Ulvert said he did not believe he was the witness who created an issue for Fernandez Rundle.
“I haven’t been contacted by anybody, by any state attorney or the governor’s office,” Ulvert said.
Ulvert called Torres’s accusations “ludicrous” and “outlandish,” and he said that “at no point in any conversation was there any conversation about any offer for employment. Zero.”
Ulvert said Torres brought his girlfriend to a meeting with Covo and Ulvert on Nov. 8, the day after the general election that saw Covo and Pardo make the runoff. Ulvert said the meeting was to discuss Torres possibly endorsing Covo.
On Nov. 9, Ulvert said he again met with Torres and Covo to confirm that Torres was endorsing Covo. Ulvert recalled Torres asking to see the language of the Covo campaign’s announcement.
Shortly after that second meeting, without explanation, Torres stopped communicating with the campaign, Ulvert said.
“I have no doubt what is going to be reviewed will confirm that it’s just political opponents trying to weaponize the justice system, all with false claims,” Ulvert said.
Torres declined to comment for this story. In the past, he has said that only Covo was present at the second meeting, and that’s when she offered him the consulting contract. He previously said that both meetings occurred at the Ritz Carlton in Coconut Grove.
Torres’ girlfriend, Reina Lopez, also declined to comment when reached by a reporter Monday evening.
Another candidate
Eddy Leal, an attorney who used to work in Mayor Francis Suarez’s office, also ran to unseat Covo and criticized her during the campaign. Days after he placed third in the general election, he endorsed Covo.
At the time, Torres heavily criticized Leal, telling political blogger Elaine de Valle that Leal had also been offered a position in the city in exchange for an endorsement.
In the Actualidad radio segment, Ulvert said he also met with Leal and Covo after the general election and before the runoff. After talking about Leal’s impressions of the city, the topic of him returning to a city job came up, but no offer was made, according to Ulvert.
“It’s normal to ask if he wants to return to the city, or if he hated his time at the city and never wants to return,” Ulvert said on the radio, reiterating that he and Covo never offered a job to Leal.
At that time, Leal denied any quid pro quo.
Leal did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment on Tuesday. When news of the investigation first became public on Saturday, he told the Herald that he did not want to comment on the allegations against Covo raised by Torres.
On Saturday, Leal said he did not know there was an investigation into Covo and had not been reached out to by the Miami-Dade or Broward state attorney’s offices.
Miami Herald staff writers Devoun Cetoute and Sarah Blaskey contributed to this report.
