In 2018, María Elvira Salazar's campaign threatened legal action and sought to block the broadcast of a political attack ad using edited footage from her past Castro interview, raising questions about transparency and attempts to limit criticism (Miami Herald, News-Journal, El Nuevo Herald).
The attack ad controversy centered on claims that footage was deceptively edited to misrepresent Salazar's stance on the Cuban regime, but her strongly worded denials and aggressive response risked drawing more attention to the underlying criticism (Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald).
Salazar's campaign described the ads as defamatory and manipulated, but repeated public statements refuting the claims may have amplified the controversy and public scrutiny (Miami Herald, News-Journal).
In her personal life, divorce records showed a contentious property settlement and a dismissed lawsuit against Wells Fargo, which could be used to allege poor judgment or financial mismanagement (Miami Herald, El Nuevo Herald).
A long-standing distressed mortgage---settled only in 2020 and still listed as her liability---may raise questions about her personal financial responsibility (Miami Herald).
2018: Salazar's Campaign Threatened Legal Action Over Attack Ad According to Miami Herald, 'Salazar's campaign has threatened to sue Marks, called on Facebook to block the ad from its platform and demanded that América Tevé stop airing the two-minute spot.' [Miami Herald, 8/1/18]
Salazar's Attorney Asserted Her Criticism Of Cuban Regime According to Miami Herald, 'Ms. Salazar's disgust of the Cuban regime is well documented throughout her exemplary decades-long career as a journalist.' [Miami Herald, 8/1/18]
2018: Salazar Sought To Block Attack Ad From Airing On América Tevé According to Miami Herald, 'Salazar tried to block América Tevé, a Spanish-language news station, from running Marks' ad. Planas sent a letter via email July 20 to Jeanie Penichet, the station's general sales manager, arguing that the commercial lacked the proper disclaimers and was defamatory.' [Miami Herald, 8/1/18]
María Elvira Salazar Attempted To Block The Ad And Threatened Legal Action In 2018 According to El Nuevo Herald, "la campaña de Salazar [...] ha amenazado con demandar a Marks, pidió a Facebook bloquear el anuncio político en su plataforma y exigió que el canal América TeVé no trasmita más el comercial, de un minuto de duración." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 8/1/18]
María Elvira Salazar's Campaign Described The Attack As Defamatory In 2018 According to El Nuevo Herald, "'Su campaña está trasmitiendo un anuncio que es falso y difama a mi cliente', escribió el vienes el abogado Juan-Carlos Planas. 'La repulsión que siente la Sra. Salazar por el régimen cubano está bien documentada en su carrera ejemplar de periodista a lo largo de varias décadas'." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 8/1/18]
2018: Salazar Claimed The Political Ad Was Manipulated According to El Nuevo Herald, "'No solamente porque [el anuncio político] es confabulador, sino porque no es cierto. Está manipulado. Ese video está manipulado'." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 8/1/18]
2018: Salazar Called Ad Featuring Castro Interview 'Defamatory' And Sought Its Removal According to Miami Herald, "The ad has generated controversy and prompted Salazar to defend herself against criticism for what some consider a complacent attitude toward Castro and U.S.-Cuba relations. The ad, which Salazar described as defamatory and tried to remove from the air, is financed by Stephen Marks, also a Republican candidate for District 27, home to some 280,000 Cuban-American voters." [Miami Herald, 8/3/18]
2018: Salazar Claimed Political Attack Over Edited Interview Clips According to El Nuevo Herald, '"Algunos pueden interpretar que me estaba congraciando [con Castro], pero es que la edición está manupilada, es perversa y venenosa y no está tratando de demostrar la verdad", dijo Salazar.' [El Nuevo Herald, 8/3/18]
2018: María Elvira Salazar Labeled Political Ad As Defamatory And Tried To Remove It According to El Nuevo Herald, "La transmisión del anuncio en la televisión local ha generado una controversia que coloca a Salazar en la posición de tener que defenderse de críticas por lo que algunos consideran una actitud complaciente con Castro, basándose en su manera de conducir las preguntas hace más de dos décadas. El anuncio, que Salazar calificó de difamatorio e intentó sacar del aire, lo financia Stephen Marks, un candidato también republicano [...]" [El Nuevo Herald, 8/3/18]
2018: Stephen Marks Ran Attack Ads Using Salazar's Castro Interview According to News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), "self-described 'political hitman' Stephen Marks is running grainy snippets of Salazar referring to Castro as 'comandante' and 'un revolucionario por excelencia' alongside an English-language appearance on Fox News following Castro's death in 2016." [News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), 8/6/18]
Salazar's Campaign Threatened Legal Action Over Attack Ad According to News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), Salazar's campaign "has threatened to sue Marks, called on Facebook to block the ad from its platform and demanded that America Teve stop airing the two-minute spot." [News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), 8/6/18]
July 2018: Salazar's Attorney Called Marks' Ad Defamatory According to News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), Salazar's attorney Juan-Carlos Planas wrote to Marks, "Your campaign is currently broadcasting an advertisement that is false and defames my client. Ms. Salazar's disgust of the Cuban regime is well documented throughout her exemplary decades-long career as a journalist." [News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), 8/6/18]
2018: Salazar Attempted To Block Airing Of Attack Ad On Spanish-Language TV According to News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), "Salazar tried to block America Teve, a Spanish-language news station, from running Marks' ad. Planas sent a letter via email July 20 to Jeanie Penichet, the station's general sales manager, arguing that the commercial lacked the proper disclaimers and was defamatory." [News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), 8/6/18]
2018: Salazar Criticized Opponent's Negative Ads As Maliciously Edited According to El Nuevo Herald, "Dijo que los anuncios de Marks con ataques fueron editados de una 'manera maliciosa' y que malinterpretó sus comentarios en Fox News después de la muerte de Castro, en los que elogió los esfuerzos del presidente Barack Obama para restablecer las relaciones con Cuba." [El Nuevo Herald, 8/25/18]
2018: Salazar Called Attack Ad Against Her 'Despicable' According to Miami Herald, 'in an interview last month on WPLG's This Week in South Florida, she called Mark's ad "despicable" and said her interview with Castro was "an hour long and there are many segments where I'm tough."' [Miami Herald, 8/1/18]
2018: Salazar Denied Being A Communist And Claimed Video Manipulation According to Miami Herald, 'I have been one of the staunchest, most hardest critics of the Cuban revolution on the air, and for this guy to come on the air and say I'm a Communist, I am livid,' she said on WPLG, adding that she tried to play the Castro interview 'down the middle' as an impartial journalist. 'Not only because it's conniving, because it's not true. It's manipulated. That video has been manipulated.' [Miami Herald, 8/1/18]
María Elvira Salazar Responded To Ad Criticism By Highlighting Tough Questioning Of Castro According to El Nuevo Herald, "Salazar calificó el anuncio de Mark de 'despreciable' y dijo que su entrevista con Castro 'duró una hora y hubo muchos segmentos en los que fui dura'." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 8/1/18]
María Elvira Salazar Claimed 2016 Fox News Interview Was Taken Out Of Context In Attack Ad According to El Nuevo Herald, "Salazar dijo que su entrevista del 2016 con Fox News sobre la reacción en Miami a la muerte de Castro [...] también se sacó de contexto y se tradujo incorrectamente al español para que pareciera que estaba alabando al dictador." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 8/1/18]
María Elvira Salazar Maintained A Critical Stance Toward The Cuban Regime According to El Nuevo Herald, "'Yo he sido uno de los críticos más duros de la revolución cubana en el aire, y que este tipo salga al aire y diga que soy comunista, estoy furiosa', dijo Salazar en WPLG, y agregó que trató de entrevistar a Castro 'desde el centro' como una periodista imparcial." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 8/1/18]
2018: Salazar Described Being Misrepresented By Attack Ads According to News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), Salazar "called Mark's ad 'despicable' and said her interview with Castro was 'an hour long and there are many segments where I'm tough.' She said her 2016 Fox News interview [...] was also taken out of context and mistranslated into Spanish to seem as if she were flattering the dead dictator." [News-Journal (Daytona Beach, Florida), 8/6/18]
2018: Salazar Maintained Her Castro Interview Had No Hidden Content Or Editing According to Miami Herald, 'That [Castro] interview has been on YouTube for 25 years. There's nothing new about it,' Salazar said. 'I myself over the years I have played it over and over again, the same interview, without any editing for the people to see.' [Miami Herald, 8/25/18]
2018: Salazar Defended Her Interview With Fidel Castro From 23 Years Prior According to El Nuevo Herald, "No tienen nada, mi récord está muy limpio", dijo Salazar. "De lo contrario lo habrían sacado. Tuvieron que retroceder 25 años. ¿Qué hay de los últimos 15 cuando he estado al aire a las 8 de la noche de lunes a viernes durante 52 semanas al año? Han pasado 25 años, ¿no pudieron sacar algo?" [El Nuevo Herald, 8/25/18]
2018: Salazar Disclosed Unedited Castro Interview Had Been Public For 25 Years According to El Nuevo Herald, "Esa entrevista [Castro] ha estado en YouTube durante 25 años. No hay nada nuevo al respecto", dijo Salazar. "Yo misma a lo largo de los años la he pasado una y otra vez, la misma entrevista, sin ninguna edición para que la gente la vea". [El Nuevo Herald, 8/25/18]
2010: Salazar's Ex-Husband Assumed Liability For Radcliffe Manor Property According to Miami Herald, 'When the couple divorced in the summer of 2010, Maietto said in a settlement that he'd pay the mortgage on the now-distressed Radcliffe Manor property where the couple had hoped to live with their two children. Salazar also signed over the deed to the home to her estranged spouse.' [Miami Herald, 9/27/18]
Salazar Held No Responsibility For Ex-Husband's Homestead Complaint According To Maietto According to Miami Herald, '"Maria Elvira had no responsibility for the homestead complaint," Maietto said. "We divorced and I was already living in the house."' [Miami Herald, 9/27/18]
2010: Salazar Transferred Property Title To Ex-Husband After Divorce Agreement According to El Nuevo Herald, "cuando la pareja se divorció en el verano del 2010, Maietto indicó en un acuerdo que pagaría la hipoteca de la propiedad en cuestión, en Radcliffe Manor, donde la pareja había esperado vivir con sus dos hijas. Salazar también le entregó el título de la propiedad a su entonces esposo." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 9/27/18]
2020: Salazar Settled Long-Distressed Mortgage Listed As Liability According to Miami Herald, "A long-distressed mortgage that belonged to Salazar's ex-husband -- but listed her as a debtor -- was settled in November 2020 after her ex-husband was told to vacate the property." [Miami Herald, 9/10/21]
2010: Salazar's Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo Was Dismissed According to Miami Herald, 'Court records show Salazar and Maietto filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo, alleging that the lender that refinanced their home loan at 6601 SW 71st Ave. had violated Florida's unfair trade practices laws and the federal Truth in Lending Act by hiding a $10,000 fee during closing. [...] Attorneys for Wells Fargo called the lawsuit frivolous, said the couple received $500,000 cash in the refinancing, and convinced a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit in 2010.' [Miami Herald, 9/27/18]
Pre-2010: Salazar And Ex-Husband Sued Wells Fargo Over Mortgage, But Case Was Dismissed In 2010 According to El Nuevo Herald, "Los registros judiciales muestran que Salazar y Maietto demandaron a Wells Fargo, alegando que la entidad de préstamo que refinanció su préstamo hipotecario sobre la propiedad de 6601 SW 71 Ave. había infringido leyes estatales sobre prácticas comerciales injustas y la ley federal que regula los préstamos al ocultar un cargo de $10,000 durante el cierre. [...] y convencieron a un juez federal para que desestimara la demanda en el 2010." [El Nuevo Herald (Miami, Florida), 9/27/18]