In case you missed it, Jimmy Patronis, who has a record of taking checks from the insurance industry to fund his campaigns, made excuses for property insurance companies in an interview with Scripps’s Forrest Saunders yesterday. 

It comes as the Florida House Insurance and Banking Subcommittee begins to investigate state insurance companies’ tactics. The investigation was triggered by a study first reported by the Tampa Bay Times, which suggested that major insurance companies were hiding profits while claiming massive losses following Hurricanes Irma and Michael. 

“There is no justification for hiding profits to hike up premiums,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried. “Jimmy Patronis might be running for Congress, but he’s still Florida’s Chief Financial Officer. Floridians deserve to know exactly what insurance companies have been up to under his watch — and if they’ve been stealing from Floridians to satisfy their shareholders, lawmakers must act to hold them accountable and Florida’s CFO should not be rewarded with a promotion.” 

WATCH HERE: 

REPORTER: “Do you think something bad was going on there?”

JIMMY PATRONIS: “I think probably some of it was misinterpreted. I think some of it was legal, and some of it probably wasn’t inappropriate— but in the eyes of John Q. Public— with what they’ve been going through, they probably feel it’s highly inappropriate.”