Florida Senator Rick Scott has blasted Amsterdam & Partners law firm for representing Reinaldo Munoz Pedroza, the inspector general of Venezuela.
 Rick Scott |
A&P began working for Venezuela after Foley & Lardner resigned the account due to criticism that it received from the Florida Republican.
The US does not recognize the government of Venezuela president Nicolas Maduro.
In his Jan. 28 letter to F&L, Scott wrote that he was disgusted to learn that F&L was representing an agent of “Nicolas Maduro’s brutal regime.”
He referred to the leader of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as “a thug and a dictator who is murdering children and starving his people. No business in the US should have any contact with Maduro’s government, let alone willingly take money to lobby on its behalf.”
Scott promised that as long as F&L represents “a dangerous dictator who is against everything this country was built on, I refuse to meet with anyone in your firm, or anyone that contracts on this matter with your firm, regardless of the many clients you represent.”
F&L filed a “termination of engagement letter agreement” document with the Dept. of Justice on Feb. 7.
That filing noted that all funds ($1,449,848) that it received from Pedroza have been transferred to his new counsel, A&P.
On Feb. 20, Scott announced that he is now boycotting A&P for its willingness to work for a “dangerous dictator.”
Robert Amsterdam told the Associated Press that he rejected Scott’s call for a boycott and that his firm isn’t “going to bend to the political dictates of Florida.”
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