MIAMI – During a live appearance Sunday on Local 10′s “This Week in South Florida,” new Congresswoman Maria Salazar accused her predecessor Donna Shalala of “refusing” to transfer constituents’ case work in the transition between offices after the November election.
Following the interview, Local10 offered Shalala’s team the opportunity to respond.
“Not in any moment in time [was there a refusal to help in the transition],” Shalala’s former deputy chief of staff Raul Martinez, Jr. said. “We worked with them seamlessly from the first time I was contacted on Nov. 9 by the person handling their transition.”
Martinez provided a clip of text conversation from November indicating the two transition teams were cooperating and coordinating, and a copy of a letter sent to constituents after the November election advising them to call the new member of Congress with their cases.
He said most of the cases were closed.
Salazar said Shalala’s office notified her office of just two or three cases. She said she learned only by happenstance of at least two others, including the case of a cancer patient trying to get a visa for her daughter in Cuba to be with her.
While there is no indication Shalala’s office willfully refused to transition the cases, Salazar stands by her accusation. She said as a result of her appearance on “This Week in South Florida”, 10 other constituents have called to alert her to their ongoing cases.
Salazar’s interview on “This Week in South Florida” can be watched below: