When you see a headline like this [How Rubio helped his ex-con brother-in-law acquire a real estate license] in the Washington Post, you figure that you’re about to read a very long and sordid exposé. That’s not really what Post reporters Manuel Roig-Franzia and Scott Higham delivered in this case, though. Their piece has enough substantiation to justify the headline, but it doesn’t delve too deeply into the greater meaning and it leaves the most important question unanswered.
Let’s start with the fact that “ex-con” doesn’t really do justice to Marco Rubio’s brother-in-law. Orlando Cicilia was a major drug trafficker at a time and in a place that has gone down in history in movies like Scarface and television programs like Miami Vice for being notoriously violent and destructive.
According to public records, Cicilia was arrested after federal law enforcement seized the Miami home where he lived with Barbara Rubio, Senator Rubio’s sister. Barbara Rubio was not arrested or indicted. Cicilia was sentenced to 25 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana.
The arrest was part of “Operation Cobra,” a federal crackdown on a Florida drug smuggling ring that killed a federal informer and chopped up his body, according to a NYT story published at the time. The story reports that the ring, led by Cuban American Mario Tabraue, paid $150,000 in bribes to the Key West police chief and Miami-Dade county officials, and used Miami police officers to collect, count, and disburse drug profits.
About that part where they killed a federal informer and chopped up his body, the New York Times reported on December 17th, 1987:
The authorities said that in July 1980, members of [Cicilia’s drug ring] apparently became aware that Larry Nash was an informer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
“Mr. Nash was murdered and mutilated,” Mr. Dean said. “His body was cut up with a chain saw and then burned.”
This drug ring reportedly did $75 million of business trading in marijuana and cocaine, of which Cicilia was personally responsible for $15 million. That’s a lot of cocaine and a lot of ruined lives, and the way they operated, it was a lot of violence, intimidation, and the cause of a shameful amount of public corruption.
To call this man merely an “ex-con” doesn’t capture the scope of his crimes.
When Cicilia was arrested, Marco Rubio was sixteen years old, and he can’t be held accountable for what his sister’s boyfriend and eventual husband did for a living. That his sister and the family stayed loyal to this man throughout his incarceration and welcomed him back into their lives and homes when he was released is admirable in its own way. When you look at the totality of the circumstances with this case, the Rubio family deserves a degree of credit for loyalty and a willingness to forgive. Orlando Cicilia served his time and he ought to be afforded the opportunity to demonstrate that he’s been rehabilitated.
Still, this was a choice. It was a choice to essentially overlook the immense damage done by Cicilia and his gang to countless individuals and to the integrity of the local government and law enforcement institutions.
We have to balance the good and the bad here, and that’s the context with which we should judge the following:
When Marco Rubio was majority whip of the Florida House of Representatives, he used his official position to urge state regulators to grant a real estate license to his brother-in-law, a convicted cocaine trafficker who had been released from prison 20 months earlier, according to records obtained by The Washington Post.
In July 2002, Rubio sent a letter on his official statehouse stationery to the Florida Division of Real Estate, recommending Orlando Cicilia “for licensure without reservation.” The letter, obtained by The Washington Post under the Florida Public Records Act, offers a glimpse of Rubio using his growing political power to assist his troubled brother-in-law and provides new insight into how the young lawmaker intertwined his personal and political lives.
Rubio did not disclose in the letter that Cicilia was married to his sister, Barbara, or that the former cocaine dealer was living at the time in the same West Miami home as Rubio’s parents. He wrote that he had known Cicilia “for over 25 years,” without elaborating.
The Rubio campaign responds that it would have been worse if he had revealed his conflict of interest because revealing that Cicilia was his brother-in-law and was living with his parents would have put undue pressure on the members of the Florida Division of Real Estate. This is because, as majority whip of the Florida House of Representatives, he had “significant influence” over the Division’s budget.
That’s a defense, certainly, but a poor one. Rubio had two truly defensible options. He could have refused to write the letter because of the obvious conflict or he could have fully disclosed it and let the chips fall where they may. He chose to hide the conflict, and that was the wrong decision.
The Post reveals some additional information about how Rubio has helped his brother-in-law, including using him as a realtor and funneling “more than $130,000 in the past decade” to Cecilia’s two sons through various PACs and campaign coffers.
But that’s not the most troubling question here. This is:
Rubio also declined to say whether he or his family received financial assistance from Cicilia, who was convicted in a high-profile 1989 trial of distributing $15 million worth of cocaine. The federal government seized Cicilia’s home; the money has never been found.
I don’t know how much money was left over after the lawyers got paid, but it’s safe to assume that “the money [that] has never been found” was significant and became part of the Rubio family’s assets.
I have mixed feelings about how this story should be treated. In almost all cases, I favor forgiveness and a helping hand to felons who do their time and pay their debt to society. I don’t look unkindly on families that stick together and remain loyal to members who fall into addiction or crime.
But major drug kingpins are a little different than your garden-variety felon. People who trade in lethal addictive drugs like cocaine and heroin have such a depraved indifference to the death they cause that I have a hard time being forgiving, and this is especially true for major traffickers who are involved at least tangentially in murder, bribery and the corruption of public officials.
That Marco Rubio is not only a public official but is seeking the highest office in the land just puts this in a category of its own. I can’t strongly condemn anything Rubio is proven to have done, but neither can I really trust him, either.
This is definitely a legitimate story and something all voters should know about so that they can weigh the facts in a full and fair context. And, to be fair, Orlando Cicilia did his time. I don’t see anything wrong with him having a real estate license. I don’t care that Rubio used him as a realtor. It doesn’t really bother me that Rubio has employed his sons in his campaigns, although I hope they did some actual work.
On the other hand, I would like to be able to believe that Rubio’s whole political career wasn’t made possible by bloody cocaine money that was never recovered when Cicilia was arrested back in 1987.
Unfortunately, that possibility is an open question.
I believe that once a person has done his time, he should be rehabilitated and welcomed back into society. After the 1st offense, that is. I do not believe that, if a person goes to prison twice, that much can be done. But, after the first time, let’s bring them back into society.
In fact, I think that politicians should make a point of hiring ex-cons. An ex-con is a person who may and should be rehabbed. If a politician believes that the prison experience does anything, he should believe that the ex-con has done his time and is now ready to be welcomed back to society.
Voting rights should be restored. Jobs should be found.
I have several limitations: 1) those convicted of financial crimes should not be placed into a position of financial trust 2) those who hurt others physically should be treated more carefully.
So, about Rubio’s efforts: He helped his BIL get a job where he could go straight. I assume that the BIL has remained straight since. That seems OK.
On the other hand, he used his political influence to do something for his family that only 200-300 others could do in FL. That is distinctly corrupt and wrong. Special deals based on position are wrong, and should be a crime in and of themselves.
So, at the end, the special deal is more bad than the help. I hope this hurts Rubio.
That’s roughly how I feel, although I think the corruption on Rubio’s part here is relatively minor. The more troubling thing is that the family quite likely kept the drug money, and that the presidency is an office that demands a higher standard than any other.
…the family quite likely kept the drug money, …
Or the cops pocketed it.
It was a federal investigation. The cops were implicated in the bribery scheme.
the corruption on Rubio’s part here is relatively minor
…. This is not minor. It’s a horrible abuse of power using his influence for his brother-in-law — even if he hadn’t committed a crime and done his time.
I don’t see it that way.
But look at this piece on Cicilia’s boss:
I LOVE Parrot Jungle! And to think it has been used as a hiding place for 10,000 pounds of pot by organized crime! Sheesh. What next. Of course, it is in Miami.
That’s an interesting story. And yet Guillermo was a CIA informer. Yeah, spooks gotta stick together. Strictly speculation on my part, but my guess is that some of that organized crime money was funneled directly to the CIA, who probably knew what these crooks were doing all along.
OT for the Rubio thing. On topic: I think Rubio did wrong in NOT revealing who his BIL was when seeking the RE license. It’s all very well to forgive your relative and seek to assist him in getting legit work, but really? The BIL was involved in a significant organized crime network, and there’s probably other dead bodies involved. The BIL may not have murdered anyone, but wow.
Rubio’s ethics were sorely lacking. Not good, as far as I’m concerned. Voters should know this and make their own decisions. Doesn’t impact me, as I was never going to vote for Rubio anyway.
That says it all.
See my comment below.
AG
Who wouldn’t write a letter to help their brother-in-law get a job? I’m not saying this isn’t morally compromised, but the alternative is being an unspeakable dick.
As I pointed out, he had another choice than to write the letter or not write the letter. He could have been honest.
Oh, yeah, I agree. He should’ve disclosed everything. I’m just saying that it’s a relatively minor lapse, and a pretty relatable one.
The personal connection to major league drug dealing, though? That’s wild. It doesn’t implicate Rubio himself in any way … yet is completely fair game for media scrutiny, in terms of background. I’d never heard a whisper of this before, which is v. strange. It’s not nothing.
Except if he starts talking about the Clintons, Lewinski, whitewater, blowjobs, etc.
Then it becomes serious and should immediately be thrown in his face. Do not think the media would do that? Nope.
It’s not really greed that matters, it’s hypocrisy.
.
Yes.
He could have been honest.
But then he would have had no success in the PermaGov system.
None.
Zilch.
Nada.
AG
Two strikes and you’re out?
Two things:
First; I have trouble with the concept that he paid for his crime when the money has not been found. I also don’t want to set aside that this particular crime does so much damage to individuals and the communities involved that time spent in jail seems a weak excuse for blowing all that damage off. I’m not expecting him to be further ostracized and left without the means to create a fruitful life, but letters by government officials is going way too far–even ignoring that the official was a family member who professed to have known the person when he was committing those crimes and is now recommending him.
Second; We don’t have a culture of treating criminals who HAVE paid for their crime like real citizens, no matter what the crime was. That seems largely the reason for the recidivism rate. If you are largely treated as a bad guy and limited in providing for your family or otherwise creating a fruitful life, then what are you most likely going to do?
Didn’t remember the time spent in jail appropriately so my comment about knowing him when he was committing the crime is a bit over the top, though the point is the same–even considering that they obviously knew each other much longer than that.
Like big Pharma opioid manufacturers and distributors? No forgiveness required for them as they occupy a respected position in society.
Alcohol may be as or more addictive and lethal, and if not, does lead to more “collateral” deaths.
I like that “in its own way”. Nice touch, because when it’s all said and done, you need to follow the money:
There’s a piece of wisdom from The Wire that applies here:
Fortunately, Rubio’s best defense is so cynical-sounding that even though it’s true, he can never use it: the drug money was unavoidable in launching his political career, since a large chunk of South Florida’s economy, particularly in the ’80s, stemmed from it. I vaguely recall some study showing that an outrageous percentage of the large bills in circulation there had traces, or more, of cocaine residue on them. Not to mention the money laundered into the local economy over the years by various Latin American kleptocrats of American favor. It’s hard to imagine any South Florida pol being totally clean.
But even by those standards, Rubio is a sleazebag. Ultimately, this story matters not because of the particulars, but because it’s so consistent with Rubio’s various other shady dealings. And those are just the ones we know about.
Snopes:
Cheers,
Scott.
In no way do I find Rubio an acceptable person for any public office. And yes, he chose a sneaky way to partially wipe his bil’s slate clean. Giving such a person the power to pardon or call off investigations of his associates/friends/family is a bad idea.
However, if we want to go down this road (which I personally think we should), none of the candidates or any politician should be given a pass on similar acts. When Dad Was VP, Jeb Bush Lobbied The Administration For A Medicare Fraudster. Neil Bush got a pass for his participation in ripping off Silverado Savings. The Rodham brothers received sinecures and special protection. (Before their move to DC, the Clintons weren’t clean, and don’t even get me started on the Marc Rich pardon.) Who knows the extent of abuse of power by the other GOP candidates?
Sanders is the only candidate that is clean (although DWS, DNC, and team Clinton are making a concerted effort to tarnish him over a non-scandal).
Yes, Sanders appears to be clean.
That’s why he’s not going to win.
AG
MarkLevinson6
Bezos to “worker power” folks at WaPo or Amazon: “You’re fired!” Or maybe he decided that the beautiful minds of the Beltway shouldn’t be sullied with notions of worker power. At least not in the electoral season when a Presidential candidate is boldly stepping into this issue.
○ Harold Meyerson @HaroldMeyerson:
My final Post column (huh? Read; it’s semi-explained).
On stock buybacks and the decline of American capitalism
○ Jeff Bezos Makes His First Major Move at the Washington Post – March 2014
○ Washington Post announces cuts to employees’ retirement benefits – Sept. 2014
○ Inside the wild ride that landed The Washington Post on K Street – Sept. 2015
WaPo always hated unions and working people:
http://www.fifthestate.org/archive/267-november-1975/strike-sabotage-wash-post/
And I think re-integrating former convicts into society is a desirable thing to do. We do a piss-poor job of it, generally speaking. But we do a piss-poor job of doing a lot of things, like making sure that those who have much do not have too much and those who have little do not have too little.
That being said, I look at the outline of the story and wonder, “What if a Democratic candidate for president did this?” Imagine the wall-to-wall coverage on Fox and its extended family of cable and local outlets. Imagine the other popular media outlets following along because the story is “out there.” Imagine the death of the candidate’s campaign by a thousand little cuts of innuendo, or more likely, the complete immolation of the campaign within 72 hours of the story breaking.
Now consider how Rubio’s campaign should be treated.
I’d be cautious in assuming an easy answer to your “what if.” Let’s not forget that Bill Clinton had an extra-marital affair while in office, and while that received wall-to-wall coverage, it was three GOP Congressional pols that went down for similar behavior and Clinton survived. (Gore was the only DEM “collateral” damage in all that.)
Yeah but we had 8 years of crap about Mena, cocaine and all the other nonsense. It made it easier for Clinton to pass a lot of awful crap because people were too caught up defending him against the GOP.
Bowman writes regarding Rubio’s relative -by-marriage:
1-Those “countless individuals” were weak enough and stupid enough to be seduced by drugs that were so plainly destructive that even children could see it.
and
2-There is no longer any remaining “integrity of…local government and law enforcement institutions” in the United States of America. The fish rots from the head, and the massive addictive traffic in highly addictive drugs that played a major part in totally ruining this country’s social system was supported by actions of people in the federal government at the highest levels who were theoretically supposed to be defending this country.
i am not defending Rubio here. I know nothing whatsoever about his part in this drama because I can no longer believe anything that is reported by the news media. i assume he is as crooked as every other moderately successful national politician because otherwise he wouldn’t be successful at the national level. Whether its drug money or corporate money, it is in essence the same money that supports him.
I am just saying…sigh…wake the fuck up. You are attacking this guy for partisan political reasons and if he was a smart young DemRat candidate instead of a RatPub you would be glossing over his history. What you obviously either do not understand or choose to ignore for personal reasons is this simple fact.
The Democratic and Republican parties are both funded…with means totally controlled…by the same corporate interests, and act as faux “enemies” in order to control public opinion by diverting attention to the criminal activities of the state by “arguing” with one another. This idea has become perfectly clear to a large section of the electorate, witness the rise in non-voting and the connected rise in public disgust with all forms of established government here.
You also write:
Oh.
You mean “convicted” felons, right? People who “have such a depraved indifference to the death they cause that I have a hard time being forgiving.”
What about the people who make them look like pikers, Booman? The politicians, spooks and military hustlers who stand at the top of that poisonous food chain, people who will never be convicted “felons” because they own the goddamned courts!!!
You know who they are. You’re too smart not to know. The LBJs, the Kissingers, the Reagans and Roves, the Brzinskis and Bushes, the Dulleses, the Cheneys. And yes, the Clintons and Obamas as well.
Depraved indifference to death!!!???
I got yer “depraved indifference to death.”
Right here!!!
How does that Kool-Aid taste, Booman?
Really.
WTFU.
Please!!!
AG
This is good – Oliver Willis at Addicting Info —Donald Trump’s National Spokeswoman Is A Welfare Cheat, Shoplifter
Massive FAIL for Trump’s administrative skill.
And the list goes on — NY Daily News:
And from Politico
Too ignorant to know that the feminist bra burning story is as false as the one about a hippie chick spitting on soldiers.
Who would a President Trump appoint to X might make for an amusing parlor game — but a very scary reality.
More on Trump’s ‘great’ management skills – Vally News – Trump Campaign Claims Upper Valley Supporters Who Say They Didn’t Commit.
What I find interesting in general and off topic, is this kind of thing about using political power was the SOP for the entirety of human history basucally everywhere and entirely unremarkable until what, 100 years ago?
I mean its obvious why, family ties were the main way to improve security in pre-modern society but I still find it interesting because it existed for so long and still has a lot of credit among people.
As democratic or elected governments developed, the spoils system had to be reduced. Hence, civil service systems were created.
Local and state governments followed that lead. Corruption can’t be totally eliminated, but it’s ever so much lower in countries with functioning civil service systems.
But now there is a concerted effort to replace Civil servants with un-vetted contract employees.
“Outsourcing” government work has been going on for a long time now. And yes it is a return to the “spoils system” but in a more sophisticated (harder for the rubes to see) form. The whole damn Iraq War was nothing but a patronage operation.
Accomplished in a not too dissimilar way from the destruction of unions. Not that many union leaders weren’t also corrupt enough to engage in the destruction. Create resentment and envy for union and public employee workers, the owners/oligarchs care about workers unlike government, convince the rubes that they would get more or better good/services at cheaper or comparable prices if the private sector took over, tax cuts reward the people, blah, blah, blah.
Once the people finally realize that the good paying jobs have disappeared and young people are saddled with enormous education debt, do they wake up? Nope. They demand more of the same — tax cuts, charter schools, less government (except for a larger fetus patrol, presumably because there aren’t enough starving babies).
So So True! People are their own worst enemy.
One wonders if it were not for the elusive money whether young Marco would even be in politics. It would explain a lot including Rubio’s apparent lack of substance and personal will.
He could probably have carved out a nice little local or state legislative niche for himself with his sugar-daddy’s money and loaded up his pockets for decades in the process.
Nice link to you from Charles Pierce’s shebeen.
Please someone spare us from nincompoops like Rubio — which seems to include all those in the 2016 clown car.
That others agree he is a complete lightweight. That he has apparently bamboozled the media and his own party is deeply disconcerting, perhaps as much as Trump’s wild trajectory.
On a par with GWB. He just neglected to get a Karl and Karen willing to devote years in training him into semi-coherence.
He strikes me as accident-prone. But about the Cicilia story in the Post, cui bono? The media seems too busy fluffing the horse-race to notice the knives are out. I’m guessing the Bushies strategically planted it, given the subject and locale. But it could be anyone.
As the Bush-crime-family has for months been acting as if Rubio is Jeb?’s major impediment to the nomination, that’s the best guess, IMO.
is tiny compared to the number of lives ruined by alcohol. Are liquor store owners and bartenders and wholesalers guilty of “depraved indifference”? Of course they are not felons but they do participate in distributing “lethal, addictive drugs.
Let’s get real here: the difference between alcohol and cocaine/heroin is legality. If alcohol was illegal but those drugs weren’t, they’d switch places for lethality.
It’s true that illegality breeds lethality because of unknown purity and contamination, but heroin and cocaine would never approach the popularity of alcohol. Alcohol is much tougher (toxic) on the body than heroin or cocaine.
Alcohol is more toxic on the body than heroin?
You know what? I refuse to entertain this ridiculous conversation anymore. You go on with your bad self.
Switch out Marco Rubio and put in ANY Black politician’s name.
just ANY.
tell me how this story would be playing.
EXACTLY.
Of course, these ill-gotten millions (and, no doubt more) have been used to forward the family. To think otherwise defies logic.
Rubio’s lies of omission to support the certification of his brother-in-law into the real-estate profession were conscious decisions to circumvent ethical commonsense. (Real estate in bust & boom Florida? Enough said.)
So what? Well, in my mind, the money was poorly spent, Marco Rubio did not accept the opportunity the money afforded to become Learned. I am tired of dumb leaders.