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A Florida Democrat who ended her run for a seat in the state's House of Representatives late last month admitted to authorities that her claim of being a medical doctor who treated Pulse nightclub shooting victims in Orlando wasn't true, according to a charging affidavit released this week.
“I lied,” Elizabeth McCarthy told state investigators, Florida Politics reported. "It is a false statement."
During her candidacy, McCarthy, 50, told people she was a doctor at Orlando Regional Medical Center and treated 32 victims of the 2016 massacre.
“I lied. It is a false statement."
“I personally removed 77 bullets from 32 people … It was like an assembly line,” McCarthy claimed at a gun safety event earlier this year.
On at least two occasions, McCarthy was introduced at public events as "a doctor" by Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Florida Politics began investigating her claims last month, prompting an investigation by the Florida Department of Health, which confirmed it had no record of her as a licensed medical professional.
“I just made it up,” she told investigators, adding that she was portraying a life she invented.
“I wanted to be somebody in the community, and I’m sorry," she said. "I’m sorry that I gave any impersonation. I knew it was wrong and I should have stopped.”
“I wanted to be somebody in the community, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I gave any impersonation. I knew it was wrong and I should have stopped.”
Elizabeth McCarthy. (Facebook)
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Last month, she claimed in a Facebook post that she was a victim of “campaign smearing.”
McCarthy has been fined $3,094.95 for misrepresenting herself as a medical professional and is barred from telling anyone else she is a doctor, Florida Politics reported.
Forty-nine people died at Pulse nightclub on June 12, 2016, when a gunman entered and opened fire at patrons.
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