After Jestine Iannotti filed to run for a Central Florida state Senate seat in 2020, she went to great lengths to avoid addressing her candidacy, asking for “privacy” in a press release and leaving the country during campaign season.
But in recent months, Iannotti has broken her silence — taking the witness stand in August to testify that Seminole County GOP Chair Ben Paris asked her to run for office and helping prosecutors convict him of a misdemeanor election law violation.
Earlier that month, Iannotti sat for an interview with state investigators, divulging new details of the origins of her campaign as she seeks to secure a plea agreement in the criminal case against her, according to a transcript of the session that was recently made public.
