The United States Attorney’s Office has refused to comment or provide any information regarding whether its investigation of Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward has concluded  without a finding of any wrongdoing on his part.
Yesterday afternoon, we emailed the public information officer for United States Attorney’s Office for Northern District of Florida, Amy Alexander. We asked for confirmation of several statements made by attorney Nix Daniel in his letter to City Attorney Lysia Bowling about the conclusion and findings of United States Attorney’s investigation of Ashton Hayward. (BLletterHayward)
From: Richard Outzen
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 2:24 PM
To: Alexander, Amy (USAFLN) (Contractor)
Subject: Federal grand jury investigation of Ashton Hayward
Ms. Alexander,
Through a public record request of the city of Pensacola, we obtained the attached 9/21/17 letter from Beggs & Lane that states the investigation of Mr. Hayward “proved to be without merit,” “is now concluded,” and “was no finding of any wrongdoing on his part.”
The letter also states that “all matters which were the subject of the investigation were within the scope of Mr. Hayward’s responsibilities as mayor.”
Can you confirm all these statements made by Mr. Daniel in the letter are accurate? You can reach me by phone at the number below.
Thank you.
Rick
Rick Outzen, Publisher/ Owner
Independent News
Ms. Alexander replied, “Regarding your questions below, this correspondence is not from our office. You will need to speak with the author of the letter for more information.”
We sent another email requesting a statement on whether the investigation had concluded without a finding of any wrongdoing.
Amy,
I appreciate that but has the investigation concluded? Was there no finding of wrongdoing?
We asking for your statement. We have his attorney’s opinion.
Thank you
Rick
The PIO replied with one sentence: “We have no public information to provide regarding this inquiry.”
This morning, I called and left a voice message for Ms. Alexander to call us.
I requested from City Attorney Bowling and Nix Daniel, author of the letter in question, to provide any documentation that supports 1) “…this investigation is now concluded†and 2) “There was no finding of any wrongdoing on his part.â€
Daniel responded by email: “I am in Wisconsin in a meeting and am not able to get that information to you today. I will be back in the office tomorrow.”
We have asked for City PIO Vernon Stewart to set up an interview with Mayor Hayward about the federal investigation. He has not responded, and the mayor has not called the newspaper.
Update: We received this reply from Ms. Bowling. We had also asked her if she had any conversations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding the conclusion of the federal grand jury investigation and its findings.
“The September 21, 2017 (letter) from Beggs & Lane is the documentation that was submitted to the City regarding the matter.
I am forwarding your public records request of this morning to the Sunshine Center immediately.
I did not have any conversations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding the conclusion of the investigation and its findings.
I hope this is timely for your morning deadline.
Should you need further assistance, please let me know.”