Monique Worrell
A former chief investigator in the State Attorney’s Office for Orange and Osceola counties alleges the current state attorney and her colleagues deleted or failed to preserve public records, a civil lawsuit alleges.
Former investigator William Eric Edwards filed the lawsuit August 6 in the Ninth Circuit Court in Orange County. It accuses State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Democrat, and other employees in the office of multiple policy violations from 2017 to 2023, the year Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis accused Worrell of failing to enforce state laws and suspended her from her position.
Worrell then filed a lawsuit against the governor, arguing that DeSantis had no legal justification to remove her from office, but the Florida Supreme Court later upheld the suspension.
Voters, however, re-elected her as state attorney last year.
Edwards conducted investigations for Worrell’s appointed successor, Andrew Bain. His lawsuit contends that Worrell’s former chief of staff, Keisha Mulfort, had stored public records on private Gmail accounts and deleted or withheld them once Bain took over the office.
The public records allegations earlier this year were a part of a larger criminal investigation by a grand jury, the complaint states. The lawsuit also seeks the release of information about who in Worrell’s office may have released Edwards’ personal information, including his cell phone number, to a reporter..
In an Aug. 7 press conference, Worrell said the lawsuit reflects the prior administration’s politicization of criminal investigations.
"There has been a baseless and defamatory lawsuit … accusing my prior administration of destroying public records,” she said. “The lawsuit falsely states that records were destroyed at my direction.”
Worrell also alleged that the appointed administration’s investigations of her actions prior to her suspension were an attempt at intimidation and to keep her from taking office after her election victory in November.
This week Worrell’s office filed a Petition for Declaratory Judgment with the court asking it to determine if any of the records sought by Edwards can be released without violating grand jury rules. Worrell said her office found that the requested records were exempt from public disclosure.
“No prosecutor’s office in this country should allow its investigative processes to be compromised,” Worrell said in a prepared statement. “An investigation must be grounded in facts, follow established procedures and serve the pursuit of justice. When those standards are not met, it erodes public trust and wastes taxpayer resources.”
No direction was given by her management team to delete public records, she said, adding that the decision by the Bain administration to initiate such investigations was an abuse of power.
Worrell’s petition asks the court for an in-camera review of the records in question, meaning a determination by a judge about whether the information should be disclosed to Edwards or the public, or whether certain portions of it should be held back due to confidentiality concerns.
Edwards’ lawsuit seeks the immediate release of the records sought, including emails, text messages and other communications among Worrell’s office staff, as well as the costs of the lawsuit and attorney fees.
Neither Edwards’ attorney nor Worrell’s office responded to requests for comment.
