Barbara Sharief gets political ads retracted in legal settlement
Barbara Sharief, a former Broward County commissioner who is running for Florida Senate in 2024, has reached a settlement agreement with a PAC over political ads from last year’s election that she says were defamatory, according to her lawyer.
Sharief’s lawyer, Michael Pizzi, considers it a victory even though the election is long over. “This is more than symbolic because she has a bright political future,” he said of Sharief. “People are on notice they can’t accuse her of that. People are on notice they can’t slander her.”
Sharief unsuccessfully attempted to oust state Sen. Lauren Book last year. The Book-Sharief contest, decided in August, was the most hotly contested race of the summer in Broward.
Sharief reached a settlement, approved in April, with Winning Florida, a political action committee, and retracts the use of the words “defrauded” and “guilt” in the ads used during the 2022 Senate District 35 race, according to her lawyer.
The attorney for the PAC, Jason Haber, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Sharief’s lawsuit also named her political opponent at the time, Book, as a defendant, accusing “Ms. Book and her nefarious team of defenders” for “the unethical spreading of false information purely for selfish political gain.”
The lawsuit with Book remains pending. Book’s spokeswoman said she has no affiliation with the PAC.
Book’s spokeswoman, Claire VanSusteren, called it a “frivolous lawsuit” but declined further comment Tuesday, citing pending litigation. Book’s lawyer, Gary Phillips, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
According to a news article from the South Florida Sun Sentinel published in 2013, the state Agency for Health Care Administration said Sharief’s home health care company overbilled Medicaid for patient services. She paid $540,328, which included a fine of $48,561. Later in 2013, she settled a second Medicaid overbilling case with the agency, agreeing to pay $109,924, including a fine of $18,233.
Sharief was not accused of intentionally filing false claims in either case, and she did not admit wrongdoing in either settlement. At the time Sharief said she did not overbill Medicaid, but still opted to settle the matter.
Pizzi said the state’s allegations were false, and was never found to have done anything wrong.
Sharief has declared her candidacy for the Senate seat when it opens again in 2024. Book can’t run again because of term limits. The district lies mostly south of Interstate 595 and west of Florida’s Turnpike within Broward County.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash