Indicted Florida congresswoman claims persecution by federal prosecutors
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE - In this Aug. 13, 2015 file photo, Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla. talks with the press in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP)
A Florida congresswoman indicted on fraud charges is telling supporters she's being "persecuted" by federal authorities because she's black.
U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and her chief of staff pleaded not guilty after being indicted last week on multiple fraud charges and other federal offenses.
In a statement posted Sunday on her campaign website, Brown says her indictment was part of a "very rough" week that included a black man fatally shooting five officers in Dallas and the killings in Louisiana and Minnesota of two black men by white police officers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brown proclaimed her innocence, saying the indictment was "very scary." She wrote: "I'm not the first black elected official to be persecuted and, sad to say, I won't be the last."
She was one of the first three African-Americans elected to Congress from Florida since Reconstruction.