Pay to Poison: How Adam Putnam Let His Donors Get Away With Spraying Pesticides on Their Workers

A devastating new report from The Tampa Bay Times revealed that Adam Putnam’s Department of Agriculture let a campaign donor off the hook after they sprayed pesticides on their workers.

According to the Times, after Duda Farms sprayed pesticides on their workers, they immediately donated money to Adam Putnam’s re-election campaign for Agriculture Commissioner. The Department of Agriculture eventually found that Duda Farms had committed zero violations — and instead stuck a hired pilot with an $1,800 fine. And that wasn’t the end of it: there were “at least two other instances of farms donating to Putnam’s 2014 re-election campaign for agriculture commissioner while his department investigated illegal pesticide use.”

The investigation also reveals that Putnam has lied about his resume — claiming in advertisements to be a farmer and rancher in an effort to hide his record as a career politician. In fact, the Times reports, while “Putnam’s siblings and other family members on business registration documents filed with the state, never including him. At times, Putnam has distanced himself from the company he now touts as his small business experience.”