Rep. Brown: Indictment Is Racial Persecution

Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), who last week was indicted on numerous counts of fraud after a lengthy Justice Department investigation has suggested that she is being targeted because of her race, and even linked hers plight to recent tragic shootings.

"Last week was very rough," she blogged. "Two black men were needlessly gunned down by police; 5 Dallas police officers were slain by a demented man, and on Friday I had to appear in federal court."

She has been charged with helping raise money for a charity, then using most of it to pay for personal expenses.

"My heart is heavy, but my spirit remains unbroken. Being indicted is very scary. Yet my conscience is clear because I’m innocent. I’m not the first black elected official to be persecuted and, sad to say, I won’t be the last.," she said.

Brown also suggested to reporters this week that had the Justice Department been investigating the Orlando shooter instead of her, maybe all those people would not have been killed in the nightclub shooting.

Brown continues to maintain her innocence.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.