ORLANDO — Cheerfully shouting “onward to victory,” Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer told applauding members of the GOP state committee tonight that they need to unite if they’re going to defeat Democrats next November and in 2012.

Greer announced his resignation last Tuesday, effective Feb. 20, defusing a long-boiling controversy over his spending of party funds, raising of campaign cash and his avid support of Gov. Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate primary. The Republican State Executive Committee had a specially called meeting this weekend, in addition to its regular annual meeting, to discuss a rising tide of demands for Greer’s resignation.

Jim Greer

Today I received an email from the Hillsborough Republican Executive Committee.  This email has been a long time coming.  If our readers recall a few months ago the Republican Leadership was to have a vote of no confidence in Chairman Jim Greer.  Much of this is due to his association with Charlie Crist and the party purge effort underway by the Republican Party of Florida.  Many Ron Paul supporters have fallen prey to this party purge effort.  With out further ado I give you the email:

November 5, 2009

Dear Chairman Greer,

It has become apparent to us that you and by extension the RPOF have failed to recognize the significance of the resolution passed earlier this year by a majority of the County Chairs and members of the State Executive Committee in our state, particularly with respect to following Rule 8 of our Constitution.

As recently as today, we’re being informed that an operative of the RPOF used a false “twitter” account to disparage a duly elected county Chairman.  Add this incident to the recent revelation that a contract employee of the RPOF, and “Senior Political Advisor” to Governor Crist, Mr. Rich Heffley, initially denied, then admitted,  that he was the author of an “anonymous” website set up to attack the record of a US Senate primary Republican candidate. Both of these compound the earlier allegations that your early and vigorous endorsement of Charlie Crist in his candidacy violated Rule 8 and resulted in the aforementioned resolution by a significant majority of the members of the State Executive Committee asking you to cease and desist the violation.

The fact that Charlie Crist’s U.S. Senate campaign has the same building address as the Republican Party of Florida is also of concern to many of our grass-root activists and members who are voicing their complaints about the appearance of coordination. Your repeated public appearances with U.S. Senate Candidate Charlie Crist as he is campaigning for the US Senate seat at  fundraisers, political events, and impromptu REC visits is being perceived by members as an endorsement, again in violation of Rule 8.  In fact, many of our members have voiced their concerns that if their donations to the State party are being used in any measurable manner to support a Federal candidate, it is in violation of Federal Election Commission rules and subject to investigation.

Our members are also fully aware that due to the lack of accountability in expenditures of RPOF resources, the Victory 2010 Committee was created with Speaker Allan Bense as a co-signatory on all checks issued to ensure your compliance with GAAP standards.  We believe, however, that since a significant portion of funding for the RPOF came and will come from the voluntary contributions of our grass-root members, the RPOF should be held to a higher standard than just GAAP standards. In fact, RPOF should be held to the highest standard of fiscal and ethical accountability.

It has been revealed that Mr. Heffley received $250,000 in consulting fees in an off-election year. He has now admitted responsibility of the amateurish attempt to discredit a fellow Republican and qualified Primary candidate.

Given Mr. Heffley’s proximity to you and to Governor Charlie Crist, US Senate Candidate and the long list of undisputed facts I mention above, it appears that the RPOF leadership continues to be in violation of the Party’s Rule 8, and choose to ignore the admonishment by a majority of the members of the State Executive Committee for you to comply with Rule 8 and to remain neutral in all Primary races.

Chairman Greer, your actions have consequences.  The consequences are being felt by us locally by the reduction of donations to the local parties and the growth of third-party associations and groups which are attracting voters that belong to the Republican Party.  In our respective counties many of our members are blaming the local leadership for the appearance of favoritism and endorsements of Primary candidates.  This is fundamentally severing the trust that exists between the local communities and the local leadership of our Party, this being the foundation for turnout on Election Day, and the ultimate goal of our Party.

We can assure you this is not in support or non support of any candidate but about the perception of the Republican Party of Florida as seen by our Florida Republicans.

We are demanding that you and RPOF cease and desist your interference in Republican primaries and discipline any employee or contractor that fails to follow this directive.  If you haven’t already done so, Mr. Heffley’s contract should be immediately terminated and you should demand a full internal and transparent independent investigation into who else might have collaborated with Mr. Heffley.  If other employees of the RPOF are discovered to have been assisting Mr. Heffley, they too should be terminated.  You should publicly give your personal guarantee to all Florida Republicans that you and your leadership team will follow the tenets of our Party’s constitution, particularly as it relates to Rule 8 and will not allow your personal ambition to allow employees or contractors to use wrongful means to slander or disparage any elected member of the State Executive Committee that may disagree with you personally.

Chairman, you have a choice to make.  Are you going to lead the broad and inclusive coalition that makes up our party and its supporters to victory or are you simply going to use your power as Chairman to impose your choice of who should become the Republican nominee for the United States Senate and violate every tenet of our Party?

We, the undersigned, hope it is the former.

Sincerely,

Deborah Cox-Roush
Deborah Cox Roush
Chairman Hillsborough County Republican Party

Agreed upon as written by the following:

AJ Matthews, State Committeeman HCREC
Tina Pike, State Committeewoman HCREC
Randy Maggard, Chairman Pasco County
Bill Bunting, State Committeeman Pasco County
Sid Dinerstein, Chairman of Palm Beach County REC
Tony DiMatteo, State Committeeman of Pinellas County REC
Peggy Simone, State Committeewoman of Manatee County REC
Virginia Bromford, State Committeewoman of Seminole County REC
John Salak, Bay County Chairman REC
Carol Carter, Former State Committeewoman HCREC
Art Wood, Vice Chairman HCREC
Robin Lankford, Secretary HCREC
Ken Lawson, Treasurer HCREC
Josh Burgin, Executive Director HCREC
Teresa Eaton, President Bay County Republican Roundtable
Matt Fleming, President New Tampa Republican Club

State law enforcement officials have opted not to open an investigation into Orange County Republican party Chairman Lew Oliver, more than a month after a disaffected political activist filed a complaint with state authorities.

Keith Recine, a former vice-chairman of the Ax the Tax group run by activist Doug Guetzloe, had filed a complaint accusing Oliver of misrepresenting some $12,900 in reimbursements that Oliver had claimed for campaign expenses. Recine also alleged that two $10,000 transfers between the Orange and Hillsborough County Republican executive committees were “laundering and mixing federal donations with state donations.”

The complaint was lodged last summer with the state attorney’s office, which sent it to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, which sent it to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The complaint got reported by numerous media outlets as an “investigation” into Oliver, which it wasn’t. FDLE routinely conducts a “preliminary inquiry” into complaints it receives to determine if they have any merit before it launches an investigation.

And last week, the agency informed Recine that it had received receipts from Oliver’s lawyer and was satisfied no criminal acts had occurred, according to the investigative report released to the Central Florida Politics on Friday.

“Mr. Recine indicated he understood that there did not seem to be any criminal acts committed, but still stated he had numerous concerns about Mr. Oliver’s behavior related to (Orange County GOP) business,” the report states.

FDLE officers “informed Mr. Recine that the issues he had identified … did not fall under the purview of FDLE and would need to be addressed either by the Florida Elections Commission or within the (local party) itself.”

“I am of course relieved, but not in the least bit surprised,” Oliver said in an e-mail. “The complaints filed against me were complete fabrications.”

And he suggested that Recine, Guetzloe and other self-styled GOP rebels will be hearing from him.
“…[T]his is still America, and there are consequences for those who file false charges and commit extensive and repeated acts of defamation. Those consequences are coming…,” he wrote.

The backstory here is that Recine, Guetzloe and other disgruntled Republicans have been fighting with Oliver over control of the party. Earlier this month, Guetzloe was one of several activists suspended by the state GOP.

Recine did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Oliver has maintained the charges were bogus and the money account transfers Recine is referring to are all legal, and were vetted beforehand and later reviewed by the party’s executive committee.

A pair of Orange County Republican party leaders have been suspended by state party Chairman Jim Greer, and Brevard County GOP chief Jason Steele has been put on probation as part of a wider raft of punishments recently handed out to members who have been critical of the Florida party’s current leadership.

Orange Republican executive committee members Nick Egoroff — suspended for four years — and Ax the Tax activist Doug Guetzloe — suspended 13 months, two years of probation — both plan to file legal appeals to overturn the sanctions.

“This is nothing but trying to take out the groups opposing Jim Greer’s leadership,” Egoroff said.

Egoroff said a a host of other Greer critics from all over Florida suffered the same fate, accusing them of supporting non-Republican candidates or just being “detrimental” to the party. He expected that same group to file a class-action lawsuit against the party to get the probation and suspension terms killed.

Some in this singled out group have come to call the whole episode a Florida Republican Party “purge.”

“This is clearly a party purge,” Guetzloe said. “Party purges were popular with Stalin, Hitler and now Jim Greer all denying free speech.”

Guetzloe said he will tap long-time legal advocate Fred O’Neil to file a First Amendment lawsuit against Orange Chairman Lew Oliver, and possibly other local GOP officers.

“This is just really painful to me, because I’ve put a lot of work into this party,” Egoroff said.

Egoroff and Guetzloe have been at odds with current Orange GOP Chairman Lew Oliver, who filed the grievance complaints against the two dissidents. Another Oliver critic, Deon Long, had already been removed from his party post by the state.

Steele relested this statement:  statement said the probation was a price he was willing to pay for standing up for his principles.

Later by phone Steele said that if the state party hoped to “stifle” his activity with the official punishment, “that’s just not going to happen.”

“We can’t be stifled in Brevard County,” Steele said. “It’s unified the party here.”

Pinellas County Republican Party of Florida official Tony DiMatteo has been appointed the chairman of the RPOF “grievance committee,” the body appointed by state party boss Jim Greer to “purge the party of the dissidents.” as Greer stated in a Palm Beach Post article (State GOP “impotent,” former chairman says) posted today.

The “party purge” began two weeks ago when Florida’s top African-American GOP leader, Winter Park attorney Deon Long, was abruptly removed from his position on the Orange County Republican Executive Committee and according to a letter from Greer “banned for life” from the Republican Party.

Long’s sin: challenging current Greer ally Lew Oliver for Chairman and then challenging the election result (Oliver ran the election, counted the ballots and declared himself the winner by one vote 122-121-2 after “disqualifying” 19 Long supporters the night of the vote.)

The purge continued yesterday with a “hearing” against Orange County GOP committeeman Nick Egoroff, a prominent Ron Paul meetup organizer and member of the Republican Liberty Caucus and Ax the Tax Chairman Doug Guetzloe, an elected member of the Orange county REC for 29 years.

The meeting began with DiMatteo literally “throwing out their own rules on evidence and witnesses,” stated Guetzloe.  “When we showed up we found out that Lew Oliver was allowed to bring 10 witnesses with him and reams of ‘evidence’ to be submitted at that moment without any prior disclosure as required by the RPOF rules.  The rules required that Oliver submit to us all evidence; witnesses and statements five (5) days prior to the hearing – not only did we not receive any of this in advance – but we were never told we could bring any evidence or witnesses with us.”

Egoroff and Guetzloe have retained First Amendment Attorney Fred O’Neal to represent them in this effort.  It was quickly shown to be an uneven playing field when Mr. O’Neal’s court reporter was thrown out of the room before the “hearing” got underway, with RPOF legal counsel stating that there would be “no recording or transcript of the meeting,” thus violating the Florida Rules of Evidence that allow transcripts of any quasi-legal proceeding to preserve the right to appeal with a complete record.  “Apparently RPOF wants no record of the meeting and RPOF also banned any of us from recording the meeting,” Guetzloe stated.

“Not being allowed to bring any evidence or witnesses was one thing, but then allowing Mr. Oliver to bring witnesses and present evidence instantly showed us that without a doubt, this is a party purge and it was a rigged operation,” Guetzloe stated.

Currently Greer has up to forty “grievances” against outspoken party leaders of which the common denominators are: Marco Rubio supporters; Draft Dockery for Governor supporters (Guetzloe and Egoroff are Co-Chairmen for that effort); open primary supporters; Republican Liberty Caucus members and Ron Paul supporters, thirty of these have not yet been submitted to the star chamber.

Brevard County REC Chairman Jason Steele was singled out for simply opposing Greer’s efforts to invoke RPOF Rule 11 that would have forced local REC’s to endorse his choices for the US Senate and Governor in advance of the 2010 GOP Primary.  The grievance committee will consider another seven (7) removals this weekend.

“The grievances against me included: using my radio show, The Guetzloe Report, to oppose the party purge; speaking out against Lew Oliver and supporting Deon Long for party positions – all clearly my rights under the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights,” Guetzloe stated.

“We have since learned that Mr. DiMatteo has a record of opposing party inclusion as shown by this video and statement where he threatened other party leaders with personal violence:”

Daily Paul reports

Tony DiMatteo threatens bodily harm to Ron Paul supporter

December 1, 2007

She called Tony DeMatteo on Thursday to take issue with the unethical way the straw poll was conducted and the fact that she purchased a block of tickets only because of the information the REC provided her, to learn that the information was false. Tony DiMatteo then told Sophie ” it is too bad for you and if you start any trouble you will be hurt”.

Sophie, shocked, upset and concerned from being threatened called Clearwater Meetup Organizer Paul Bourgeois. Paul had previously talked to Tony about all of the rule changes. Tony made it clear that Paul BETTER not take it any further or it would make us (Ron Paul Supporters) look real bad.

Physically intimidating and threatening people are completely unacceptable behaviors. Tony DeMatteo’s actions needs to be addressed by the Republican leadership and the Pinellas county REC members.

Tony DeMatteo is the Chairman of the Pinellas County Republican Party.

Video here.

UPDATE: More here.

“After the verbal presentations by Egoroff, Guetzloe and O’Neal, the committee went into “Executive Session” and removed everyone from the room and then voted to ban both of us from the Republican Party for allegedly supporting “special meetings” of the REC so that business could be conducted.  To date, Lew Oliver has not had one meeting since his election in that a quorum was present.  We used existing GOP party rules to have a special meeting by petition, a meeting that Lew Oliver called, wrote and threatened individuals to ‘not attend,’” Guetzloe stated.

“We understand from sources that were present during the closed meeting of the committee that the vote was unanimous to remove Mr. Egoroff and myself from the Republican Party, a move that will be challenged in court,” Guetzloe stated.  “This is just the beginning of this battle, the first shot.”

Lew Oliver is currently facing several criminal complaints filed against him by Orange County Republican Executive Committee member Keith Recine with various law enforcement entities for allegedly “co-mingling” contributions to the party and for writing $14,000 in checks to himself without any documentation.

Additionally, according to court filings, Oliver is pursuing the taking the “jewelry and antiques” from the wife’s of two fellow Republican leaders – State RPOF member Jim Stelling and State Representative Chris Dorworth, all three were involved in the collapse of a multi-million dollar land deal recently.

Tallahassee–Tony DiMatteo, Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida’s Grievance Committee, released the following statement regarding the RPOF Grievance Committee Hearing held today in Orlando.

“This weekend’s Grievance Committee Hearing has received a significant amount of publicity at the hands of those involved with the individual grievances. Though the grievance process is an internal party matter, I believe it has become necessary to explain the proceedings and the Grievance Committee’s role within Republican Party of Florida.

“The Grievance Committee is comprised of members of the RPOF State Executive Committee. Our involvement with the RPOF is in a volunteer capacity. Grievances are a formal complaint from one member of the Republican Party of Florida’s county leadership structure to another member of the county leadership structure. All grievances originate at the county level and are filed with the State Party and then referred to the Grievance Committee.

“All parties involved are informed that a grievance as been filed, and given ample time to prepare for the Grievance Committee Hearing. At the hearing, the petitioner and the respondent are given an opportunity to present their arguments.  In the weeks following the meetings, the committee members compile a recommendation for final resolution on each grievance and then present the recommendation to Chairman Greer.

“Several recent news stories have mentioned a “purge” of certain members of county Republican Executive Committees. There is no ‘purge.’ To date, Chairman Greer has only removed one person from the leadership structure of the State Party. The removal came at the unanimous recommendation of the Grievance Committee. Contrary to what has been reported, there have been numerous circumstances when the committee has recommended removal and the Chairman has chosen not to remove a member.

“Additionally, the grievances in question do not “kick-out” members of the Republican Party. The parties involved with the grievances are members of the Republican Party of Florida’s leadership structure. Like any organization, we have an obligation to our members to ensure that our leadership abides by the rules of the organization. Our formal grievance process is the mechanism for this review of the conduct of Republican leaders. A removed member is still a Republican and eligible to participate in Republican activities, but prohibited from holding a leadership position for a set amount of time.

“The RPOF Grievance Committee heard two grievances today. The private meeting was closed to the media for the benefit of those involved, as well as members of the grievance committee, who are all private citizens serving in a volunteer capacity. Like any organization, we have a right to conduct this internal party business in private. This is a political party, not a public entity. As private citizens with full time jobs and lives outside of politics, the members of the grievance committee request the courtesy to conduct this private political business without having our images spread all over television and the newspapers without our permission. Over the past several weeks, the State Party has been more than willing to speak to media outlets about this process, while keeping the specific details of the grievances private for the sake of those involved; however, today’s meeting was private, and it would not have been appropriate to discuss the proceedings.

“I think it is worth reiterating that these grievances originate at the county level. The State Party is involved only in order to facilitate the formal mechanism for maintaining organization within the ranks of our county leadership.

“In closing, this process and the publicity it has received at the hands of those involved, certainly detracts from the true business of the RPOF, which is getting Republicans elected.”

Doug Guetzloe

The State of Florida has dropped it’s appeal of Federal Court Judge Stephen Mickle’s ruling that struck down the electioneering statutes in the State of Florida as a violation of an individual’s First Amendment right to unfettered free speech.

The case, Broward Coalition, et al vs. Browning was brought by the Institute for Justice against the state last October.

The State of Florida dropped their appeal last week when they declined to appeal Judge Mickle’s ruling to the Federal District Court of Appeal in Atlanta.  Judge Mickle’s ruling strikes the entire electioneering communications statute and now allows individuals and organizations to speak freely about political issues and candidates.

Specially mentioned in the Judge’s ruling was the statute that State Attorney Lawson L. Lamar used to prosecute anti-tax activist Doug Guetzloe in 2006.  Guetzloe is the only person criminally prosecuted for first amendment free speech under this statute.  Lamar spent nearly a year “investigating” Guetzloe, eventually obtaining all this personal and business bank records and illegally releasing those to the media even though they had nothing to do with the investigation.  Lamar then charged Guetzloe with 14 misdemeanor counts and asked the court to find Guetzloe guilty and sentence him to 14 years in prison for not placing a “paid political advertisement” disclaimer on a campaign flyer.

Judge Jeffrey Arnold, a Lamar ally, then sentenced Guetzloe to 60 days in “work release”; $8,500 fine and 3 years of probation.  During appeals, the 5th District Court of Appeal struck down the absurd sentence and fines and maintained one misdemeanor count for re-sentencing.  Since that time, Judge Mickle enjoined the state from enforcing the law and in a final ruling threw out the entire law.

“Judge Mickle is a hero to the people.  He got it right.  The State of Florida has no right to use election laws to silence the people in their free expression of political ideas and candidates.  This is great day for Florida and a great day for America,” stated Guetzloe, Chairman of the anti-tax, grassroots organization, Ax the Tax.  Guetzloe is also the Host of The Guetzloe Report, a news-talk radio show broadcast every weekday from 11-noon on WEUS AM 810.

What does this ruling mean? For that we asked Doug this evening

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Guetzloe has spent in excess of $100,000 defending himself from the vicious political persecution of State Attorney Lamar.  The Guetzloe case has attracted the support of many national conservative organizations that include: Townhall.com; Sam Adams Alliance; Center for Competitive Politics; Citizens in Charge Foundation; NewsMax.com and others.

Guetzloe’s attorney, Fred O’Neal was also very pleased with the ruling and noted that the case law that Judge Mickle used in his ruling was the case law that was provided to State Attorney Lamar’s office when they began their bogus investigation of Guetzloe.

State Sen. Charlie Justice, D-St. Petersburg, issued a statement criticizing Secretary of State Kurt Browning’s refusal to appeal, saying it “will essentially allow shadow organizations to funnel millions of dollars to political campaigns without regulation or disclosure.”

Justice’s legislative aide, Bethany Linderman, said he was looking at all his options including new legislation.

The Institute for Justice, a libertarian legal organization based in Arlington, Va., challenged the law on behalf of four nonprofit groups and their leaders

Institute lawyer Bert Gall said Browning’s decision was an acknowledgment that U.S. District Judge Stephan Mickle ruled correctly. Mickle wrote that the Legislature has the power to regulate elections but not “purely political discussions about elections.”

“In America, the right to free speech means that the government cannot make it harder for some groups to speak because it doesn’t like what they have to say,” Gall said.

He said Mickle’s ruling is part of a growing body of case law questioning regulations such as Florida’s that have flourished since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal McCain-Feingold law, the popular name for 2002 revisions to the nation’s campaign finance law.

Gall sued on behalf of the Broward Coalition of Condominiums, Homeowners Associations and Community Organizations; University of Florida College Libertarians; National Taxpayers Union and national Taxpayers Union Foundation.

Mickle granted a preliminary injunction in October that prevented the law from being enforced and then issued a final ruling in May.