In a letter to both agencies, Moody said she has reviewed the recent news about the donation and the relevant statutes at the request of Gov. Ron DeSantis and concluded that further investigation by state and federal authorities is warranted.
She added in a statement that she has "instructed the statewide prosecutor to work with law enforcement and any statewide grand jury that the governor may call."
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis issued a similar call for an investigation by the Florida Elections Commission.
The Eleventh Circuit held Sept. 11 that Florida can require former felons to pay all fines and fees before allowing them to vote, rejecting arguments from ex-felons that the financial obligations were unconstitutional poll taxes.
In its 6-4 en banc ruling, the appeals court upheld a state law requiring former felons to pay all legal financial obligations before being able to vote was passed by the state's Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by the Republican DeSantis in 2019 to implement Amendment 4, a voter-approved state constitutional amendment that restored ballot rights to ex-felons.
The amendment, which easily cleared the 60% threshold it needed to pass in the November 2018 election, allowed nonviolent offenders who have completed their sentences to automatically be allowed to register to vote.
In her letter, Moody cited "allegations" in a Washington Post article announcing Bloomberg's efforts among the sources she had reviewed. The newspaper reported that the billionaire politician, who was briefly a Democratic candidate for president earlier this year, had targeted nearly 32,000 Black and Hispanic Floridians with felony convictions in an effort aimed at boosting turnout for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
The attorney general also cited several state and federal laws that make it illegal to provide anything of value to influence or interfere with someone's vote, including offering money to someone in exchange for their registering to vote.
The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, the organization that led the drive for Amendment 4, included Bloomberg on a list of celebrities, along with basketball players LeBron James and Michael Jordan, musician John Legend and movie director Stephen Spielberg, who have raised more than $20 million for a fund to pay tens of thousands of former felons' fines and fees. In total, more than 44,000 individuals have contributed to the fund.
In a statement Wednesday, FRRC Executive Director Desmond Meade emphasized the program's nonpartisan mission, saying that "this has, and always will be, about freeing the vote for everyone in Florida, no matter who they vote for."
In his letter to the Florida Elections Commission, Patronis suggested that the FRRC has engaged in electioneering communications based on a statement criticizing the president and its timing within 60 days of the Nov. 3 general election.
Representatives for Bloomberg and Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, the lone Democrat in a statewide elected position, were among those who offered strong rebukes in response to news of Moody's letter.
"This transparent political ploy is just the latest example of Republicans attempting to keep Floridians disenfranchised," a Bloomberg spokeswoman said.
Fried described the contributions to the FRRC as legal and slammed Republicans for trying to discourage voters as a strategic move ahead of the November election.
"Florida Republicans will stop at nothing to prevent people from voting, and this is another ploy to suppress the voices of those trying to regain their right to vote," she said in a statement. "Whether Mike Bloomberg, John Legend, or LeBron James, these are contributions made legally and in good faith to FRRC's mission of helping people rightfully regain the right to vote. This shouldn't be a partisan issue — more than 5 million Floridians on both sides of the aisle voted for this in 2018."
The American Civil Liberties Union, which helped represent the former felons in the lawsuit against Florida, called out the state for apparent contradictions in the positions it has taken on these issues.
"Florida created an unconstitutional system that prohibits people from voting until their debts are paid," the ACLU said in a statement. "Now the state is objecting to those debts being paid. The state seems intent on preventing voting, rather than collecting payment."
Before the passage of Amendment 4, Florida was one of only four states that denied the right to vote to all former felons unless they petitioned for a restoration of their rights. About 1.5 million ex-felons in Florida had completed their sentences but remained disenfranchised as of 2018.
The former felons initially prevailed against the state when U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle sided with them after a bench trial in May and ruled that the expenses imposed on ex-felons to fund government operations are "taxes in substance, though not in name." He said the state cannot prevent those who are unable to pay those legal financial obligations from voting.
But the Eleventh Circuit said Judge Hinkle got it wrong because court costs and fees are imposed as part of a criminal sentence and are linked to culpability. The fact they raise revenue does not change them from criminal punishment into a tax, according to the opinion.
Because the U.S. Supreme Court has explicitly permitted states to disenfranchise felons, felons cannot complain about a fundamental right to vote, according to the appeals court. Therefore, only rational basis review is necessary, and the state passes the test because it has a rational goal of ensuring that felons complete all the terms of their sentences, including financial obligations, before voting, according to the opinion.
"Florida's voters intended only to reenfranchise felons who have been fully rehabilitated, and Senate Bill 7066 drew a rational line in pursuit of that goal," the court said.
In a lengthy dissent, U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan slammed this assessment, saying the majority "breezes over the infirmities of the process."
Judge Jordan leaned heavily on testimony from the trial, in which the state said it will take more than six years to screen each ex-felon for unpaid legal financial obligations. He noted that the budget analysis for S.B. 7066 projected a need for 21 new employees at the state's Division of Elections, but the Legislature allocated no funds for new employees, and the division has hired no one to help with the extra work.
"That is a pretty good (and damning) indication of Florida's disdain for Amendment 4," Judge Jordan said.
The governor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
--Additional reporting by Carolina Bolado. Editing by Breda Lund.
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