Miami commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla arrested on corruption charges

Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla was arrested Thursday on charges including money laundering, bribery and official misconduct.

Driving the news: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in a statement that Díaz de la Portilla and local attorney William Riley Jr., who was also arrested, accepted more than $15,000 in payments from the Miami-Dade County judicial campaign of Díaz de la Portilla's brother without reporting them.

• Díaz de la Portilla is also accused of using two political committees meant for his brother's campaign to fund personal expenditures, per the FDLE.
• Riley Jr. is accused of controlling a bank account as part of a scheme to allegedly launder about $245,000 in secret political payments made by a company for permission to build a sports complex in Miami.

What they're saying: Speaking to reporters after leaving jail, Diaz de la Portilla called the charges a "work of fiction" and a political attack, per the Miami Herald.

• "The same that's happening to President Trump, at the national level, with four different false prosecutions, is happening to me in Miami at the local level," he said.

What's next: Díaz de la Portilla and Riley Jr. were booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Detention Center, posted bonds and are expected to appear before a judge Friday.

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