Miami Mayor Francis Suarez on Tuesday addressed his connections with the Saudi Arabian government and whether he needed to register as a foreign agent.
The Future Investment Initiative Institute Summit was held on South Beach back in March — an investment and global economy seminar connected to the Saudi government.
The Miami Herald published reports that claimed Suarez "has quietly spent weeks in Saudi Arabia over several recent trips, records show, as he travels to the region as a private attorney."
The Herald also claimed a public relations firm and Suarez's mayoral office made the summit happen "with the help of a handful of city staffers and Suarez’s longtime political fundraiser." It reported the summit "is caught up in an ongoing congressional investigation into how Saudi Arabia has bought its way into popular U.S. institutions..." to reshape the Saudi image in America.
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NBC6 has not independently verified these records.
Suarez, in an interview with NBC6, said the trips were on his private business.
"Private, and paid for by my law firm, which are things that we have detailed for the Miami Herald in a variety of different emails over the course of months," he said. "...Some of them are on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, some of them are private so it depends on the trip and the circumstances."
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Newly elected Miami City Commissioner Damian Pardo is calling for the mayor to resign.
"The allegations against Mayor Suarez continue to raise serious questions about the culture of corruption that has gone unchecked in Miami’s City Hall for too long," he said.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act is a federal law requiring people involved in political activities abroad to register as an agent for that country.
Suarez said that's not necessary for him.
"Every lawyer that I have consulted with has told me that is completely unnecessary because we have not been representing any country or any foreign entity, so there’s absolutely no registration required, that is completely hocus-pocus," he said.
