Earlier this year, the Florida Attorney General's Office was in the midst of a pull-no-punches investigation into foreclosure fraud.
Investigators were exposing rampant abuses. They'd netted a $2 million settlement from one company. And they were gunning for more.
But then in May, two things happened:
First, the "special counsel" to Attorney General Pam Bondi left to take a high-level job with one of the very companies the office was investigating.
One week later, the investigators were forced out of their jobs, told late on a Friday afternoon that they had 90 minutes to decide whether to resign or be fired.
No longer could Assistant AGs Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson investigate Lending Processing Services — the company at which Bondi's former special counsel, Joe Jacquot, was now a senior vice president.
Bondi says the two things were unrelated.
One thing about Jacquot's departure is sure: It wasn't unusual.
It is, in fact, way too common for high-ranking officials in Florida to suddenly leave their public jobs to work for the very companies their offices regulate.
Taxpayers hire and train these workers — and then watch them switch sides
It's called "the revolving door." And in Florida, it swings easily and often, upon well-greased hinges.
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