On Wednesday, Raquel Regalado issued a press release that included a claim that she said came from the Property Appraiser where he had supposedly "found that there was no evidence of intent to defraud."

Unfortunately, "intent to defraud" is not a requirement that's need to establish that someone has committed Homestead Exemption Fraud, and the claim that Regalado made that this statement came from the Property Appraiser only served to kindle the allegation that this supposed exoneration was little more than a political favor provided by Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia to the daughter of his long-time friend Tomas Regalado.

Below is a copy of a letter that I sent this morning to Pedro Garcia about this claim, and also about Regalado's additional claim about efforts to work with the Property Appraiser to circumvent Florida's Public Records Law.

For a lawyer who's also been an elected official for the last 6 years, Raquel Regalado continues to demonstrate an amazing lack of knowledge or respect for Florida's laws.