While House Speaker Patricia Deveaux and Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell strongly opposed Opposition Leader Michael Pintard’s move to table a document from US investigators containing “untested” allegations about a politician holding a meeting in the Parliament to discuss a drug deal, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) in the past had no issue entering into the record of the House a writ that contained untested fraud claims against Peter Turnquest in 2020.
Turnquest at the time was deputy prime minister and minister of finance. He was accused of being a conspirator in a scheme that allegedly defrauded two companies of around $28 million while in private life. He was not named as a defendant in that matter.
Then-Opposition Leader Philip Davis repeatedly called for his resignation.
Davis said in a statement on November 20, 2020, “It is now day two since the Progressive Liberal Party laid in Parliament, a writ of summons alleging a $20 million fraud by the deputy prime minister and minister of finance.
“The prime minister (Dr. Hubert Minnis) has not said a word. The deputy prime minister’s statement was arrogantly dismissive and missed the point of good governance entirely.”
Turnquest eventually resigned from the Cabinet.
Years later, PLP members, now in government, are objecting to the tabling of allegations that have not yet been tested, with Deveaux and Mitchell dismissing those allegations in relation to the recent US criminal complaint as “gossip”.
As has been widely reported by The Nassau Guardian and other media, a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York in the US last month alleges that a Bahamian politician met with a drug dealer and a confidential source for US law enforcement in Parliament in 2024 to discuss a possible drug deal.
In a sworn affidavit, Michael Coleman, a special agent with the DEA, claimed that Jonathan Eric Gardiner, a Bahamian man who was one of the 11 passengers on a plane that crashed in waters off Florida on election day on May 12, 2026, was allegedly moving tons of cocaine through The Bahamas, with the protection of Bahamian government officials and high-ranking politicians.
In particular, the complaint referred to a specific politician, whose name was redacted, and who was labled “Politician-1”.
Yesterday, Pintard questioned whether the speaker or anyone else planned to address the matter of the alleged meeting in the Parliament by a politician to discuss a drug deal.
“I would have expected that some comment officially would have come from the Parliament relative to this matter, which is of great public importance, and I’m wondering if at some point whether or not Madam Speaker or someone she designates will address this issue because we found it absolutely strange that something of that magnitude that could affect the reputation of the Parliament and by extension the country. It warranted a discussion, it warranted at least a statement, and the fact that it hasn’t been done has moved us now to raise that question, at what point will a matter of that magnitude be addressed?” Pintard said.
Mitchell objected, stating the allegations about a Politician-1 was from “an untested document which is floating around from a foreign source”.
“You are now seeking to put that into this formal place. We would oppose any such reference,” he said.
“It is untested, it is prejudicial and it holds no place in this Parliament, and if you want to engage in public gossip, that’s your business, but to try and be prejudicial against a member of this place, which might include one of them (opposition) for all I know, it is not an appropriate forum and we oppose it.”
The speaker then ruled that Pintard could not table the indictment.
“I am not allowing frivolous gossip or malicious gossip that they said happened in the Parliament,” she said.
“Of course I care if it happened in the Parliament, but where are the facts? Where is the truth behind it? Where is the evidence? Once I would have had that, then I would address from this chair, but I cannot go off gossip and I will not and I shall not …”
The speaker has also referred to the Committee of Privilege a matter raised by East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson in reference to Minister of Finance Michael Halkitis. This effectively shuts down any discussions or debate in Parliament on that issue.
The media have widely reported that Halkitis, while in public life between 2019 and 2021, served as president of Top Notch Builders, a construction company linked to Gardiner.
The affidavit that accompanied the criminal complaint against Gardiner alleged that he owns a business that bids on Bahamian government-issued construction contracts, which he uses to launder his narcotics trafficking proceeds.
