Emails Reveal Miami Mayor’s Aide Wrote Puff Piece About Billionaire

A top aide to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez published flattering articles about billionaire Ken Griffin in a popular online newspaper this year, raising questions about the administration’s coziness with the state’s richest man, The Daily Beast has learned.

The aide, communications director Soledad Cedro, assured Griffin’s spokesperson Zia Ahmed after writing the first story that her coverage had been “100% positive,” according to emails obtained through a public records request. She then offered to write more stories if Ahmed wanted “something published for that audience.”

The articles, published by Infobae—a widely read Spanish-language outlet—did not disclose Cedro’s government role. Cedro insisted to The Daily Beast that her work “as a journalist” is independent from her job with the city, even though she sent the messages to Griffin’s representative using her government email account.

Read more at The Daily Beast.