A top aide to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez published flattering articles about billionaire Ken Griffin in a popular online newspaper this year, raising questions about the administration’s coziness with the state’s richest man, The Daily Beast has learned.
The aide, communications director Soledad Cedro, assured Griffin’s spokesperson Zia Ahmed after writing the first story that her coverage had been “100% positive,” according to emails obtained through a public records request. She then offered to write more stories if Ahmed wanted “something published for that audience.”
The articles, published by Infobae—a widely read Spanish-language outlet—did not disclose Cedro’s government role. Cedro insisted to The Daily Beast that her work “as a journalist” is independent from her job with the city, even though she sent the messages to Griffin’s representative using her government email account.
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Griffin, who relocated his Citadel hedge fund from Chicago to Miami last year, has a close rapport with Suarez, who made headlines this week by announcing a longshot presidential bid. The mayor referred to Griffin as a “friend” last June, and the two men “gushed over each other” during a joint speaking appearance in November, according to The Real Deal. In March, Griffin, who is worth an estimated $32.7 billion, reportedly donated $1 million to a political committee affiliated with Suarez.
Cedro’s first Infobae story, published in February, detailed Griffin’s effort to move a historic home once owned by William Jennings Bryan off his estate. The proposal has been enormously controversial, particularly among a contingent of “appalled local historians and preservationists” concerned that the move “would strip the 1913 home of much of its significance and could cause damage or collapse,” as the Miami Herald reported in December.
Cedro was mentioned several times in the Herald article, speaking on the mayor’s behalf; she told the outlet that Suarez supported making the property available to the public, as Griffin had proposed, though the mayor didn’t weigh in with specifics.
Two months after the Herald story, Cedro covered the situation for Infobae, ostensibly as an independent journalist. Her article opened warmly by declaring that Griffin’s move to Miami had been “celebrated locally,” not only “because of his personal presence,” but also because of Citadel’s relocation. Cedro briefly acknowledged local pushback.
The article appeared to catch Ahmed by surprise. “Is this you?” he wrote to Cedro on Feb. 8, seemingly unaware that she also worked as a reporter. “Yes!” she replied, along with her reassurance about the “100% positive” coverage. “Thanks so much!!!” Ahmed responded. Cedro followed up two minutes later to pitch Ahmed on Infobae’s global reach and offered to publish more stories related to Griffin in the future.
In April, she did just that—though she and Griffin’s team insist that they did not collaborate. The second article focused on Griffin’s $5 million gift to build children’s soccer fields in Miami. The subheadline added that Griffin had already “made significant donations for education and the creation of new parks in the city.”
Cedro’s dual roles raise “troubling conflict of interest questions,” Anthony Alfieri, founding director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami School of Law, told The Daily Beast. “The subject of her reporting… stands out not only as [a] major campaign donor to the Mayor’s political action committee, but also as a rising economic power broker in the City of Miami with financial interests tied to construction projects under city land use and zoning regulation and oversight.”
John Watson, who researches media law and journalism ethics at American University, was slightly more charitable. The arrangement has “a basic stink to it,” he said, but doesn’t appear to violate principles of public relations, assuming that’s how Cedro viewed her work.
Cedro told The Daily Beast that the mayor was “not aware” that the articles about Griffin were being written and that she’s “authorized by the City of Miami to have outside employment.” She emphasized that the mayor does not directly issue regulations in the city (though Suarez can veto bills and has power over the city manager.) The mayor’s office and Infobae did not respond to requests for comment.
Ahmed said in a statement, “Mayor Suarez has been able to attract incredibly talented people like Soledad Cedro to serve the people of Miami. We have not engaged with her on any of the stories that she has written as a journalist for one of the most widely read Spanish-language publications in the world.”
Cedro is on a leave of absence from the mayor’s office, according to an auto-reply message sent by her email account. She declined to say why but was quoted speaking on Suarez’s behalf as recently as three weeks ago and is still listed as communications director on the Miami government website.
Cedro faced blowback late last month after declaring on Twitter that a “He/His/Him reporter” for the Miami Herald had been “harassing city employees at their homes during a holiday weekend to feed the newspaper’s sick obsession” with Suarez. The reporter’s supposed crime? Leaving his business card and a brief note asking an employee whether they were open to a private conversation.
Suarez is battling unfavorable press of his own. The Herald reported last month that he received at least $170,000 from a local developer “to help cut through red tape and secure critical permits,” which raised “legal and ethical questions.” He has denied wrongdoing.
