How Val Demings Helped a Campaign Donor Fund a Major Real Estate Purchase With Taxpayer Dollars

cross-posted from: https://exploding-heads.com/post/50217

Longtime utility and telecom company political operative Julia Johnson gave thousands of dollars to Demings prior to the Democrat's successful 2016 congressional campaign, according to campaign finance disclosures.

Just weeks after Demings's win, Johnson on December 29, 2016, purchased two units in an Orlando business complex for $500,000, local property records show. Within days, Demings's official office began paying Johnson's LLC more than $5,300 a month to rent the two suites, which were combined into one office space.

Demings's lease with Johnson began on Jan. 3, 2017—the same day Demings was sworn into Congress—and the Democrat is still paying her campaign donor for the space as of January. In total, Demings's office has paid Johnson nearly $320,000 since 2017, allowing the donor to pay for much of her real estate purchase with taxpayer dollars.