NOTE: This piece was first published on FLGulfNews.com.
By Dick LaFontaine and Richard Luthmann
Federal investigators found no wrongdoing by Lee County’s pro-Trump Sheriff, Carmine Marceno. But liberal media are desperately resurrecting discredited claims — a smear campaign to derail his potential 2026 congressional run.
No Wrongdoing Found in Marceno Probe
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno can declare vindication. After a year under federal scrutiny, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI have officially closed their investigation into lurid corruption allegations against the high-profile sheriff. A letter from the Department of Justice, dated Nov. 17, 2025, informed Marceno’s attorney, Donald Day, that based on all known information and federal prosecution standards, “our office and the FBI have closed this investigation.”
In plain terms, no charges, no wrongdoing found.
Marceno reacted with a mix of resolve and reproach.
“They have found no wrongdoing. It is clear that from the beginning these were politically motivated allegations and completely false,” the sheriff said in a statement.
He blasted the accusations as a baseless smear from disgruntled rivals. Indeed, the claims – originally peddled by a failed write-in opponent and former deputy, Mike Hollow – revolved around a supposed “ghost” consultant contract and kickback scheme involving a friend, jeweler Ken Romano, paying for Marceno’s father’s car.
The sensational charges triggered a federal inquiry last year, but ultimately produced nothing actionable. Marceno’s camp maintained all along that the tales of laundered money, unreported gifts, and misconduct were absurd election-year fiction invented to tarnish a tough-on-crime Republican sheriff.
With his name officially cleared, one might expect this story to fade away. In a normal world, a closed case would be the end of it.
Not this time.
Marceno’s landslide re-election in 2024 – with over 90% of voters behind him – showed that Lee County didn’t buy the whisper campaign.
But outside Marceno’s staunchly pro-law-and-order base, some media voices simply won’t accept the outcome. The DOJ has spoken, yet the witch hunt lives on in the pages of left-leaning outlets determined to keep the cloud hanging over Sheriff Marceno’s head.
Case Closed Smear Open: Left-Wing Media Revives a “Dead” Story Post-Clearance
Cleared or not, liberal media hacks refuse to let this story die. In fact, mere weeks after federal prosecutors put the Marceno case to bed, a taxpayer-funded “public media” outlet exhumed it like a zombie. Longtime leftist reporter Bob Norman – writing for the Florida Trident (an investigative site bankrolled by a leftist-funded nonprofit entity) – published a December hit piece painting a “troubling picture” of Marceno through leaked audio recordings and recycled claims.
The piece, promoted by NPR/PBS affiliate WGCU, was loaded with salacious details: unreported luxury gifts to Marceno’s family, high-stakes casino trips, and even an obscenity-laced “death wish” rant by Marceno about a former colleague.
Norman splashed vulgar quotes of the sheriff cursing out an ex-commander – ugly private talk that, however crude, has zero bearing on any actual crime. It’s pure character assassination, timed for maximum political damage.
Critics say Norman is flogging a flatlined narrative.
“Norman didn’t break news. He rehashed old rumors,” journalist Richard Luthmann noted, pointing out that when Norman ran out of fresh material, he simply pivoted to personal attacks and filler.
That hasn’t stopped Norman from breathing life into the corpse. He seized on Marceno’s close friendship-turned-feud with Romano to spill titillating gossip, none of which led to charges.
Now, the smear is blowing up in Norman’s face, underscoring exactly why partisan propaganda shouldn’t be funded on the public dime.
Luthmann followed the money behind the media offensive. Florida Trident is published under the Florida Center for Government Accountability (FLCGA), a 501(c)(3) that enjoys tax-deductible donations. Luthmann calls it “little more than a glorified PAC” pushing leftist agendas on the sly.
He points out that FLCGA’s funding comes from out-of-state Trump-haters, through networks like the Institute for Nonprofit News. In his view, Norman’s so-called Marceno journalism is “a continuous spew of leftist drivel pawned off as news” – political advocacy masquerading as charity-funded reporting.
The result?
A biased media crusade that takes every opportunity to smear Sheriff Marceno with innuendo, even after law enforcement moved on. It’s the same playbook used on bigger stages against an even bigger target.
Case Closed Smear Open: Media Bias Parallels to Trump’s Witch Hunt
To many observers, the Marceno saga parallels the media’s treatment of President Donald Trump. The script is familiar: relentless accusations, wall-to-wall negative coverage, investigations hyped as end-of-the-world scandals – yet in the end, scant proof of wrongdoing.
Marceno’s supporters certainly see it that way.
“They can’t beat him at the ballot box, so now they’re trying to tear him down with the same garbage they threw at President Trump,” a Southwest Florida GOP insider said.
The sheriff’s detractors, much like Trump’s, have turned to the courts and press after failing at the polls. It has the distinct odor of a “witch hunt” – a term Trump famously used to describe the baseless Russia-collusion frenzy.
Marceno’s backers note that even the Biden DOJ holdovers combing through his affairs came up empty, yet the left-wing media behaves as if guilt is a foregone conclusion. It smacks of a page straight out of the Steele Dossier.
Richard Luthmann draws the comparison explicitly.
“If there was any substance to the Marceno case, an indictment would have come down long ago,” he said, likening Norman’s obsessive coverage to the discredited Russiagate saga. “This story is Bob Norman’s ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’,” Luthmann quipped.
He suggests Norman’s never-ending insinuations about Marceno mirror how liberal media clung to the Russia hoax and other anti-Trump narratives long after their factual collapse.
“He should really let go, but his media masters will never allow it,” Luthmann added, in a sardonic reference to partisan puppet strings behind the scenes.
This year, President Trump took extraordinary steps to defund publicly funded leftist propaganda masquerading as media reporting.
In May 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14290, bluntly titled “Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Biased Media.” The order cut off federal funding to NPR and PBS, citing years of left-wing bias funded by unwilling taxpayers. The message was unmistakable: propaganda does not deserve public money.
Congress followed through. In July, lawmakers passed the Rescissions Act of 2025, clawing back roughly $1.1 billion previously earmarked for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Trump signed it on July 24. That vote stripped public media of its financial oxygen. No backdoor grants. No slow bleed. A clean cut.
The CPB quickly admitted reality. Without taxpayer cash, it announced plans to wind down operations beginning in early 2026. That means fewer subsidies for roughly 1,500 NPR and PBS affiliates that spent decades calling themselves “independent” while cashing federal checks.
Predictably, public media lawyers ran to court. NPR and several local stations sued, claiming Trump’s actions violated the First Amendment. The lawsuits are still pending. No judge has stopped the cuts. As of now, the money is gone.
Station executives are panicking. Layoffs are coming. Programming is shrinking.
Too bad.
If a “news” outlet can’t survive without forced taxpayer donations, it isn’t journalism. It’s welfare. Unless the courts intervene, the federal gravy train is over.
To Marceno’s allies, Norman’s smear pieces are Exhibit A for Trump’s argument. Here you have a publicly subsidized media outlet amplifying unproven claims against a Republican sheriff closely aligned with Trump. The timing and tone scream political hit job.
Since day one, Marceno’s attorney, Donald Day, consistently maintained that the allegations are “fiction” and “politically motivated,” expressing confidence that the sheriff would be cleared – which is exactly what happened. Yet outlets like the Trident spin even the outcome.
Norman emphasizes that the DOJ’s declination letter included standard language leaving the door open for future prosecution, a caveat found in virtually every such letter. In reality, it’s boilerplate legalese, not evidence of some lurking shoe left to drop.
Moreover, Luthmann thinks Norman’s narrative is “bewitched with bias.”
“I spoke to Bob Norman, and I told him I didn’t appreciate the insinuation that all Italians were central casting from the Sporanos,” Luthmann said. “I’m a proud member of the Italian American Civil Rights League, and I have an Italian mother. I get the feeling from Norman’s pieces that we’re supposed to conclude that Romano and Marceno are somehow ‘dirty’ because they are Italian. We have a word for that – DISGRAZIAD.”
The hard truth remains: after exhaustive probing by federal authorities not known for kindness toward Trump allies, Sheriff Marceno stands cleared. No collusion, no corruption – just like the narratives cooked up against Trump that fizzled under scrutiny.
The media’s selective outrage is also telling. While Norman and company flog Marceno’s private brashness (salty language and bravado in leaked tapes), they showed far less interest in, say, allegations against left-leaning officials. It’s a double standard Trump supporters know well.
From the viewpoint of the MAGA faithful, Marceno is enduring “trial by media” for the crime of being an effective Trump-aligned Republican in a deep-red county. And as with Trump, when one investigation fails to produce a knockout punch, the opposition simply shifts to the next tactic – or, in this case, refuses to admit the fight is over.
Case Closed Smear Open: Why the Left Has Targeted Law-and-Order MAGA Sheriff Marceno
Why are liberal journalists so fixated on Sheriff Marceno? The answer lies in who he is and what he represents. Marceno is a MAGA-minded lawman through and through – exactly the kind of figure the left loves to hate.
The 56-year-old sheriff rose to prominence by aligning himself closely with President Trump’s agenda. He’s touted a “Make America Safe Again” platform in Lee County, echoing Trump’s law-and-order message.
Marceno proudly campaigned as a Trump Republican, appearing with GOP stars like Gov. Ron DeSantis and embracing hardline stances on crime, immigration, and public safety.
“Sheriff Marceno is 100 percent America First,” one senior Trump advisor noted, praising Marceno’s loyalty and guts to stand up to the radical left.
In the office, Marceno has cut a high-profile figure. He locked down Lee County against lawlessness, cracked down on fentanyl traffickers, and made waves with his zero-tolerance approach to looters after Hurricane Ian (vowing looters might “walk in” but would be “carried out” if they preyed on storm-ravaged neighborhoods).
Marceno and the Lee County Sheriff’s Office have fully cooperated with federal immigration authorities, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, despite relentless pressure from the open-borders left. Marceno has made clear that Lee County will not be a sanctuary for illegal aliens or criminal migrants.
His deputies honor ICE detainers, share information, and assist with federal operations targeting violent offenders and repeat lawbreakers.
While liberal jurisdictions obstruct ICE and release offenders back onto the streets, Marceno has taken the opposite approach: enforce the law, protect citizens, and back federal partners. That cooperation has made Lee County safer—and it’s exactly why progressive activists and media hacks want him gone.
His bold actions and blunt talk earned him national attention as a no-nonsense sheriff who “means business.” It also earned him enemies who bristle at his tough tactics and social media swagger. Local Democrats and even some Republican moderates (we call them RINOs) have long wanted to knock Marceno down a peg.
But they couldn’t beat him at the ballot box – in 2024, Marceno won re-election in a landslide, taking nearly 90% of the vote against his hapless challenger.
An internal poll even suggests he was more popular in the Congressional District than Donald Trump himself. For a conservative lawman in a ruby-red district, that’s both a badge of honor and a bright red target on his back.
“He’s effective, and they hate him for it,” one local Republican official observed, referring to the left-wing detractors. “Democrats and progressives want softer policies, but Marceno has kept Lee County safe. That’s what matters.”
In other words, Marceno’s success flies in the face of the left’s narrative. He’s a walking rebuke to the “defund the police” crowd – a Trump-loving sheriff who not only didn’t get run out of town, but became wildly popular.
For the liberal media, taking him down a notch would be a trophy victory. They’ve dredged up every old allegation, from claims he once bragged falsely about owning a Lamborghini to ancient personal disputes and tabloid drama. Yet none of it has stuck in the eyes of the law or the public.
Marceno’s persona – brash, unapologetic, pro-MAGA – virtually guarantees him hostile coverage from mainstream outlets.
The sheriff, for his part, doesn’t mince words in firing back at his critics. He’s made it clear he considers this a politically motivated war on a Trump conservative in uniform. And with bigger ambitions on the horizon, the stakes are only growing.
Case Closed Smear Open: Tactics Aim to Block “Trump’s Sheriff” 2026 Run
The timing of the smear campaign is no coincidence. Southwest Florida’s congressional District is opening up in 2026, and Carmine Marceno’s name is at the top of the list of potential candidates. Popular U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds – another Trump Republican – is widely expected to walk into the Florida Governor’s mansion, leaving his House seat vacant.
The Republican primary to replace Byron Donalds has become a crowded, high-stakes contest in one of the nation’s safest GOP districts. A mix of national names and local figures have jumped into the race, including Madison Cawthorn, the former North Carolina congressman who formally filed to run and immediately grabbed media attention with a Trump-aligned campaign message.
Chris Collins, a former New York congressman and Trump ally, has also declared, aiming to return to public office.
Local and regional contenders include Jim Oberweis, a businessman who filed early; Jim Schwartzel, Sun Broadcasting president with strong fundraising; and Catalina Lauf, a former Trump administration advisor running on an America-First platform.
Others officially in the mix include Johnny Fratto, Ola Hawatmeh, Mike Pedersen, Stephen Elliott, and Dylan Modarelli, making for a wide array of Republicans jockeying for the nomination.
Meanwhile, Marceno has publicly expressed interest and would enter as a clear front-runner if he launches a campaign, according to internal polling, in the August 18, 2026, primary.
For MAGA world, this open seat is prime real estate, and Marceno checks all the boxes. He’s a loyal Trump ally, a law-and-order firebrand, a proven vote-getter, and a local hero to many. It’s no wonder MAGA insiders have been encouraging Marceno to consider a run, dubbing him “Trump’s Sheriff” and signaling that a Trump endorsement would be in his corner.
Marceno himself hasn’t formally declared, but his team confirms he’s strongly interested.
As one Trump adviser put it, “He’s got the credentials, loyalty, and guts” to take the fight to Washington.
That prospect has Florida Democrats – and some establishment Republicans – sweating. A Marceno for Congress campaign would be formidable. The sheriff’s overwhelming base support and name recognition could clear the GOP primary field, and in this deeply conservative district, that all but guarantees a general election win.
In short, if Marceno runs, Marceno wins.
His enemies know this. Thus, the flurry of negative press looks a lot like an attempt to scare him off or weaken him before 2026.
Bob Norman’s latest piece is yet another distraction to Sheriff Marceno’s prospective congressional campaign. The smear pieces curiously ramped up just as Marceno’s political star was rising. The hit jobs are pushed by Marceno’s enemies and amplified by partisan hacks.
Now, with the feds confirming Marceno’s clean bill of health, the calculus for 2026 has shifted further in his favor.
“Federal prosecutors closed [the] investigation… putting him in a strong position for [a] congressional bid,” noted one Florida political analyst.
Marceno is free to campaign without the cloud of an active probe. The smear artists are left waving the ghost of a dead case. Indeed, the DOJ’s closure effectively declawed the scandal. Yet Norman and his fellow travelers insist on keeping the story alive with insinuations that “something” could still be out there.
It smacks of the same sick strategy the left used against Trump – if you can’t beat him, investigate and denigrate him. Call him Hitler. Hope he gets prosecuted, convicted, shot, maimed. Get more upset when he endures.
As the 2026 race approaches, Sheriff Marceno stands in a strong position, buoyed by his exoneration and a devoted voter base. Unless truly explosive new evidence emerges – something the FBI somehow missed – the continued media fixation on this “scandal” is a non-story.
It remains what Marceno’s supporters always said it was: a politically motivated smear. If there was any substance, an indictment would have come down long ago.
Instead, we have none.
What we do have are loud headlines and liberal outrage, hoping to wound Marceno by sheer repetition. But Floridians have seen this movie before. Trump endured years of witch hunts and came out swinging; Marceno appears poised to do the same.
As one MAGA strategist framed it, the plan for the future is simple: “Byron Donalds goes to Tallahassee, Carmine Marceno goes to Washington, and the Trump Train keeps rolling.”
In other words, the left’s worst nightmare. And all the smears in the world won’t stop it, unless they find a real smoking gun – something they’ve failed to produce thus far.
Until then, Sheriff Marceno’s witch hunters are shooting blanks, and their election-year hit job is deader than dead.
