Two Florida state lawmakers admitted on Tuesday to having an extramarital affair after an anonymous web site claimed to have surveillance video that proves the nature of their relationship.
Oscar Braynon, a Democrat, and Anitere Flores, a Republican, issued a joint statement just before the Florida state legislature began its session on Tuesday, according to the Sun Sentinel.
The two Miami-area state senators said in their statement that they ‘do not want gossip and rumors to distract from the important business of the people.’
That said, they admitted that ‘our longtime friendship evolved to a level that we deeply regret.’
‘We have sought the forgiveness of our families, and also seek the forgiveness of our constituents and God,’ the statement read.
‘We ask everyone else to respect and provide our families the privacy that they deserve as we move past this to focus on the important work ahead.’
Two Florida state lawmakers – Senators Anitere Flores (left) and Oscar Braynon (right) admitted on Tuesday to having an extramarital affair after an anonymous web site claimed to have surveillance video that proves the nature of their relationship
Both Braynon and Flores are married.
The extraordinary statement was made after a website – floresbraynonaffair.com – showed surveillance videos shot by a hidden camera planted in an apartment complex in Tallahassee.
The videos appear to show Flores walking into Braynon’s apartment across the hall from her own apartment in the residential complex used by a number of Florida state lawmakers.
The videos were recorded in April of last year during the two-month Florida legislative session.
Nobody has yet to determine who posted the site, which is written under the headline ‘Flores (R) Caught Caucusing with Braynon (D)!’
‘Flores & Braynon Busted!’ read the sub-headline.
‘Why was President Pro Temp Anitere Flores (R) sleeping at Minority Leader Oscar Braynon’s (D) apartment for 4 straight nights?’
The individual who recorded what appear to be the two lawmakers may have been a private investigator.
Braynon (right), a Democrat, and Anitere Flores (left), a Republican, issued a joint statement just before the Florida state legislature began its session on Tuesday
‘After analyzing the videos and taking the totality of the circumstances into consideration, it is the author’s opinion that there is sufficient evidence to show that Anitere Flores and Oscar Braynon were actively engaged in inappropriate extramarital activities with each other,’ the anonymous web page said.
‘When the videos are considered in their entirety, they depict a clear pattern of behavior that is consistent with individuals engaged in an extramarital relationship, and/or cohabitation.’
The site includes video clips, layout maps of the floor, and charts suggesting that the person who installed the surveillance equipment was a professional.
The author of the web site even notes that he obtained the car make, model, and license plate numbers for both Flores and Braynon.
The author also claims to have received permission from one of the condominium’s residents to strategically place a hidden camera in the sixth floor hallway right outside Flores’ and Braynon’s respective apartments.
There is even surveillance of the condo’s parking lot, where Flores is seen leaving one morning while wearing the same clothes she wore the previous night.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Braynon last year suspected he was being watched when he found a secretly placed surveillance camera on the sixth floor of the Tennyson condominium.
Braynon and Flores rent condos across the hall from each other.
After Braynon found the camera, he notified the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigated the matter.
FDLE found that the camera belonged to a private investigator, Derek Uman of Gainesville.
Uman owns a company, Clear Capture Investigations, which offers as one of its services ‘infidelity surveillance’ and ‘political and corporate surveillance.’
The apartment building’s own cameras showed Uman placing the hidden camera in a few locations over a period of a few days, according to the Times.
In November, Braynon said he noticed something had fallen underneath a hall table.
According to the Tampa Bay Times , Braynon last year suspected he was being watched when he found a secretly placed surveillance camera on the sixth floor of the Tennyson condominium (above). Braynon and Flores rent condos across the hall from each other
When he reached down to see what it was, he found a camera with a power pack. The camera’s power light was covered over with tape.
Braynon’s colleagues in the state Senate told him that he was being targeted for revenge after a Republican lawmaker, Frank Artiles of Miami, resigned after making racist comments to colleagues.
The Florida state legislature has been rocked by scandal involving alleged sexual misconduct by its members.
Republican Sen. Jack Latvala, a powerful state senator and Republican candidate for governor, stepped down this week after he was accused by six women employees of Florida’s State Capitol of touching them without their consent or making demeaning remarks about their bodies.
In October, Jeff Clemens, a Democratic senator, resigned after he admitted to having an extramarital affair with a lobbyist.