In a statement responding to questions from the Times-Union about the records, Pitts’ attorney John Collins accused Perkins of “leaking partial and misleading confidential client documents”. “I had no knowledge that it ever took place until I saw the material on Jeff Pitts’ computer,” he said. He denied directing anyone to spy on Monroe. Perkins blames Pitts and other “rogue” employees for the surveillance. He confirmed that Matrix was able to locate the records on Pitts’ former laptop. Perkins declined to say whether he is the source of the documents leaked to journalists but verified that the records are legitimate. Perkins is locked in a legal dispute with his firm’s former CEO, Jeff Pitts, who left the company in December 2020, taking several employees and clients with him. FPL has repeatedly accused journalists of unfairly covering the company.įPL alleges the documents are being released to reporters by Joe Perkins, who founded Matrix. Reuter would not point to specific details in the documents that he thought might be false. “Taken individually or collectively, none of the information you have in your possession demonstrates any wrongdoing by FPL or our employees,” Reuter said. He argued they may not be authentic, or could be incomplete, taken out of context or “manipulated to make FPL look bad”. FPL, which controls the territory surrounding Jacksonville, has long coveted the utility.įPL spokesman David Reuter said in an emailed statement his company had “no digital record of these exchanges and cannot prove their veracity”. Monroe had been a frequent critic of FPL’s efforts to privatize and purchase Jacksonville Electric Authority, a community-owned electric, water and sewer utility. The fact that this kind of behavior could be taking place in Florida, allegedly by people with ties to the largest energy company, should shock the conscience Ted Bridis The documents include a series of text messages to FPL’s vice-president of state legislative affairs, Daniel Martell, that show an apparent coordinated effort to follow Monroe while he was on vacation. The documents revealing the surveillance were sent to the Times-Union and shared with the Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight. “The fact that this kind of behavior could be taking place in Florida, allegedly by people with ties to the largest energy company, should shock the conscience,” he said.įPL has said a law firm reviewed its work with Matrix and found no evidence of wrongdoing by the utility’s employees, but FPL has refused to share the report or its findings. A former Associated Press investigative editor whose phone records were seized by the FBI a decade ago, Bridis said harassment of journalists is escalating, facilitated by a “new era of political divisiveness”. FPL denies knowledge of or involvement in that scheme.Īlthough surveilling journalists is commonplace in some parts of the world, it’s happening more frequently in the United States, said Ted Bridis, a journalism instructor at the University of Florida. Photograph: Bob Self/Florida Times-UnionįPL’s relationship with Matrix has come under scrutiny after reporting by the Orlando Sentinel revealed Matrix operatives orchestrated a campaign to promote spoiler candidates that diverted votes from Democrats so Republicans could retain control of the Florida senate. “I have never authorized or approved or been a party to following you or any other reporter,” Silagy said to Monroe and others.Įric Silagy, CEO of Florida Power & Light, told Nate Monroe he ‘had never authorized or approved or been a party to’ having the journalist surveiled. In an interview with a group of Florida-based reporters in early June, Eric Silagy, the power company’s CEO, denied that the company had asked the consultants to spy on any journalists. But the records show employees of Matrix LLC, an Alabama-based consulting firm employed by the utility, were shadowing the journalist throughout his critical coverage of a failed $11bn purchase of a smaller Florida utility. Nearly a year later in October 2020, the consultants also obtained a photograph of Monroe and his girlfriend at the time outside their Jacksonville-area apartment, according to records shared with reporters by an anonymous source.įPL denies that it authorized or knew about the surveillance. Text messages show an FPL executive was kept abreast of Florida Times-Union columnist Nate Monroe’s movements while he was on vacation in the Florida panhandle in November 2019, an investigation by the Florida Times-Union, the Orlando Sentinel and Floodlight has found. The surveillance happened after the journalist wrote critically about how Florida Power & Light (FPL) tried to sway city council members to sign off on its business plans.
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