This has not been a good week for Republicans in Florida. Having long fostered a culture of corruption and cronyism, another top Republican is in the headlines.Greg Eagle, father of newly elected Rep. Dane Eagle is headed for prison. The elder Eagle was a close political ally of Governor Charlie Crist and was instrumental in funding outside attacks during the 2006 Republican Primary. Eagle becomes the fourth high-profile 2006 Crist backer to go to jail and he may not be the last. Rep. Eagle was formerly an aide to Governor Crist.
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Why do you hate Crist so much. You hate Democrats and capitalism! Oh wait I am getting Democrats and Republicans line mixed up. Crist is a loser and so will the Ds be if they pick him as their candidate.
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No shock. This was coming for a while. Greer will be number five.
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Eagle is CLOSELY tied to Crist. This is undeniable.
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This is a disgrace. Instead of focusing on the Republicans you keep focusing on Crist. He has renounced all of this when he became a Democrat. He was tired of the corruption and the attitude of the corporatist Republicans and he came over. The true corruption is with the Scott and his legislative allies. The truth is Crist is the only hope for the Democrats to stop this corruption.
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This is a progressive site not a propaganda tool of any party or candidate. These issues are related to Crist’s time as Governor and as a Republican. Trust me, the rumors and speculation about Crist and his ties to unseemly characters are much deeper and more extensive than anything any newspaper or this website have printed. I can almost guarantee these become issues if he’s the nominee. On top of that we can create a strong narrative about cronyism, corruption, sense of entitlement and arrogance with the GOP leadership in Tallahassee if Crist isn’t the nominee.
It is something every Democrat must ponder and consider as we prepare to take on Governor Scott.
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CRIST IS DENOUCED HIS OWN CORRUPTION? ARE YOU ON DRUGS? You are right RJ the democrats are correct now or then or now or then. Get a candidate that is not tied to mobsters, felons and those investigated by FDLE and I dont know stands for something.
scorcher memo from Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff:
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“Everyone who has followed Florida politics for any length of time knows that Charlie Crist has had his own ethic problems involving questionable fundraising and travel, but recently Florida has seen numerous examples of Crist allowing Republican corruption scandals to continue to fester under his watch.
“Crist’s defense of embattled Speaker Ray Sansom, continued support for his hand picked Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, and the fact that Crist bundler Harry Sargeant III remains RPOF Finance Chairman proves that while Crist continues smiling for the cameras his out-of-touch optimism and George W. Bush-like inattentiveness have allowed Republican corruption to fester, our economy to tank, and Floridians to suffer. Rather than stepping up to the plate and leading Florida during these tough times, Charlie Crist’s only reaction is to say ‘Next Question.’ ”
The memo continues:
“On the same day that Ray Sansom was sworn in as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Northwest Florida State College announced that Sansom was hired for a part-time, $110,000 per year job. As the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau and other media outlets throughout Florida began investigating, we learned that before taking this job, Sansom delivered more than $25-million to the college and pushed legislation to allow the school to offer 4 year degrees.
“The Times/Herald reported that more than $6-million of the money he delivered to the college was to build a hangar at the Destin Airport, on land controlled by Sansom’s friend and major donor Jay Odom. Despite being funded by taxpayer dollars, this hangar would be used by Odom most of the time to store his jets according to the Times/Herald, citing documents and Odom’s airport operations manager. The Palm Beach Post uncovered the fact that Sansom used his government office to fax in his job application to the college as well.
“On December 9, Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman called for Crist to ‘immediately order the appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate this matter to clear the ethics cloud around Sansom caused by the appearance of quid-pro-quo corruption.’ Rather than ordering an investigation, Crist simply said, ‘Next question,’ while continuing to defend Ray Sansom.”
About ROPF Chairman Jim Greer: “Jim Greer was installed in 2006 as Charlie Crist’s handpicked Chairman of the RPOF. Despite the tradition that sitting governors can appoint the person they would like as the Chair of the State Party, Greer barely won his election. During his tenure as Chair, the Republican Party of Florida lost the only statewide race on the ballot and witnessed losses at all levels of government throughout Florida. With major questions about how the RPOF spends money, Greer is facing an insurgent campaign against him for the Chairmanship.
“Despite state laws requiring political parties to disclose how they spend their money, under Greer the Republican Party continues to hide more than $2,867,000 of their expenses by labeling them simply as payments to American Express. On Dec. 6, the Times/Herald reported that Greer had used RPOF money for personal expenses. Greer’s opponents for RPOF Chair and others contend that Greer has used the party as his own slush fund, including prominent Republican operative Roger Stone implying on his Web site that Greer may have used RPOF money at ‘gentlemen’s clubs.’ Trying to quell Greer’s opponents, on Nov. 15 Crist endorsed Greer for another term as Chair.”
About Harry Sargeant III: “Harry Sargeant III, who first met Charlie Crist when they were fraternity brothers in college, continues to serve as the Republican Party of Florida’s Finance Chairman. Sargeant, a defense contractor, has been one of Crist’s largest donors and fundraisers, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Crist.
“In August 2008, John McCain was forced to return over $50,000 that was raised by Sargeant after the Washington Post uncovered the fact that many of the people Sargeant raised money from were straw donors or foreign nationals.
“Sargeant’s company, International Oil Trading Co., has been accused of war profiteering by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, which reported that Sargeant overcharged the Pentagon over $180-million to deliver fuel to U.S. military bases in Iraq.
“In October, Sargeant and his company were sued under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which alleges that Sargeant was involved in a ‘bribery scheme’ to pay off officials in the Kingdom of Jordan, in an effort to keep competing firms out. Charlie Crist has yet to address the issue and allows Sargeant to stay on in his senior role in the Republican Party.”
About others: “In the closing weeks of the 2008 campaign, Crist endorsed, raised funds and campaigned for both Congressman Vern Buchanan and Congressman Tom Feeney. Buchanan and Feeney were both labeled two of the 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress by the nonpartisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW).
“This week Vern Buchanan was labeled one of 10 Most Embarrassing Re-Elected Members of Congress by CREW, who write, ‘(Buchanan’s) ethics issues stem from pressuring his employees to make contributions to his campaign committee and improper use of corporate resources for campaign purposes.’ Crist’s efforts to re-elect Buchanan helped make this happen.
“Feeney, who earned national attention for the 3 year FBI investigation into his relationship with Jack Abramoff, was defeated on Election Day despite Charlie Crist’s best efforts.”
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This is ridiculous running this article on a Democratic site. Resistance to Crist is futile. He is going to be the nominee and he will crush Rick Scott. Resistance is futile and the attempts by this blog and your buddy Trotter over at the Hurricane to weaken Crist by airing old scandals and odd theories about voter behavior only help the Rick Scott Republicans. You guys all do some great work but continuing to weaken our nominee will only mean four more years of Scott. You need to think about what you are doing to our party. Respectfully, you need to take a deep breathe and understand what is at stake.
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Jack:
Fat Jimbo Greer still holds ALL the cards even though he will be in the slammer. Look for big checks from Rick Scott and John Trasher to arrive in the wife’s mailbox while Jimbo is enjoying some dark sausage at the clink.
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another SCUMBAG FloriDUH Republican crook? I’m SHOCKED I tell you just SHOCKED! LOL!
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[…] have given closure to these issues were always misplaced- Crist’s connections to scandal go far beyond Greer and the RPOF. In fact, his scandals with the RPOF go beyond Greer. As we discussed last week, […]
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