Jim Greer

TALLAHASSEE — Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer is the subject of a criminal investigation after an auditor found he funneled party money to a political consulting company he owned.

Attorney General Bill McCollum referred the matter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on March 15 after it was discovered during an internal party audit.

“This information indicates there may have been criminal activity surrounding a former senior official of the Republican Party of Florida and a company called Victory Strategies, LLC,” McCollum said in a statement.

Just a side note that McCollum was never in favor of the actual audit.  John Thrasher stated publicly that he would have a private firm audit the RPOF.  McCollum also knew about the secret deal between Delmar Johnson and Jim Greer for two months before actually going public with the finding.

The audit showed that Greer owned 60 percent of the company and Delmar Johnson, the party’s former executive director, owned the remaining 40 percent. Greer authorized the contract to let Johnson take a 10 percent commission on all dollars he raised for the party coffers. It totaled $133,005 for 2009 with an additional $66,250 for other consulting services.

Gov. Charlie Crist said the news is “terribly disturbing.” Greer was Crist’s hand-picked candidate to lead the state party following the governor’s election in 2006, and Crist remained publicly loyal to Greer until it became obvious in January that Greer had virtually lost all support.

“I find it terribly disturbing to hear, but I know that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will certainly conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation,” Crist said. Asked if the investigation could tarnish leading Republicans, Crist, who’s trailing in polls as a U.S. Senate candidate, said: “I certainly hope that it does not. The acts of individuals are the acts of individuals, and that is for the people to decide.”

Crist said he “had heard rumors” that Greer owned a stake in a consulting company, Victory Strategies, that was paid with party funds.

FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey reports to Crist and the Cabinet, and Crist is constantly accompanied by one or more FDLE agents, but the governor said he did not receive a heads-up of the FDLE probe of Greer. “I heard about it about an hour ago,” Crist said at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Polk REC

Last night was the regularly scheduled meeting of the Polk County Republican Executive Committee took place.   Most of these meetings are just business meetings with very little excitement-taking place.  However last nights meeting was fantastic.  One of the items on the agenda was discussing the state party leadership.  Specifically the vacate chairman position created after Jim Greer resigned.

So far two candidates have emerged from the pack Florida State Senator John Thrasher and current RNC secretary Sharon Day.  The problem is RPOF and the state elected leadership is trying to force John Thrasher down everyone’s throat. If you were paying attention when Jim Greer resigned, you received an email about 20 minutes later announcing endorsements for John Thrasher.

Party rules state that for Thrasher to be considered for the Chairman position he has to first be a sitting state committeeman. At this time he was not. It was not until this past week that he was.  If readers will recall this is almost identical to how Jim Greer came into power as well.  He was not a sitting committeeman as well.  They bent the rules and backs were scratched because that’s what the Governor wanted.

The RPOF has a loyalty oath, which all members of the REC must sign to be actual members.  This loyalty oath bars members from donating to candidates other than Republicans, or assisting their campaigns in any way that is harmful to the Republican Party.  Thrasher is guilty of violating this loyalty oath by donating to members of the Democratic Party of Florida on NUMEROUS occasions.

The reason for the background information on the prospective chairmen is simple; it was all brought up last night.  With that said, an aide from John Thrasher’s campaign was in attendance and rebuked some of this.  However the evidence spoke for itself and he was quickly shut down.

State Committeeman Robert Norman said “Sharon Day is one of us.  She is a grassroots leader.  She isn’t an outsider like Greer was. “  Chairman of the Polk REC Gene Roberts was leaning towards voting for John Thrasher.  He said that the Senator had called and talked with him earlier in the week.  However shortly after saying this a voice from the back of the room shouted “But we elected you to represent US.” So a motion for a vote was brought forward to find out whom the REC supported for chairman.

All of those in favor of Sharon Day shouted “AYE” all of those for Senator John Thrasher “….” You could almost hear crickets chirping outside.  Not a single person spoke up to support Lobbyist, Democrat Supporter, and Senator John Thrasher.  It seems that the Republican Party is coming around and holding feet to the fire, and this is EXACTLY what it takes to WIN!

Several members of the Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) attended the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) annual meeting January 8th and 9th. With factors such as the recently announced resignation of RPOF Chair Jim Greer, the growth of the RLC, the emergence of Tea Party movements and the influence of the “We Surround Them” (912) groups, we had high hopes for a new direction for the RPOF.

New opportunities were opened with the anger and energy of these activist groups, and the RPOF state committee recognized this with a resolution to encourage county executive committees to reach out to “Tea Party people.” This would have given the RPOF a solid boost heading into the 2010 elections. But they failed to understand that those “Tea Party people” want principled leadership and bottom-up representation, not the party-first top-down mentality currently in place.

At the annual meeting, the RPOF leadership demonstrated that they still don’t get it. Chairman Greer received a standing ovation from party leadership when he exclaimed at the conclusion of his speech, “It’s about the party, party, party”. The cries heard at a Tea Party or grassroots function, however, are for “principles, principles, principles.”

Rank-and-file Republicans are clearly angry over the unprecedented growth of the federal government in 2009. They are also disgusted at our Governor Charlie Crist’s display of support for Obama’s stimulus package. Yet, when Crist addressed the RPOF at the meeting, he stated that “Florida needs to get her fair share,” and added that he would “not apologize for supporting the stimulus.” Such a statement would be met with scorn from the majority of voters of the Republican Party and Tea Party attendees, but was met with a standing ovation by party leadership.

The first person to speak on policy was Jeff Kottkamp, candidate for Attorney General. Kottkamp did not talk about reducing the size and scope of government, cutting spending, or removing regulations and encouraging free enterprise. Instead, he focused his remarks on expanding the Defense and Space industries in Florida. Grassroots Republicans are pleading for leadership that understands the core issues of fiscal responsibility and limiting the size and scope of government, but RPOF leadership offers only promises to protect special interests.

Most discouraging of all, however, was the apparent coronation of Senator John Thrasher to replace Jim Greer as Chair of the RPOF. In much the same fashion Jim Greer was chosen, the word is that Thrasher had been chosen before the conference call announcing Greer’s resignation had even ended. Many in leadership have rallied around Thrasher because of his ability to raise large sums of money, something the RPOF is in need of. What the RPOF needs more than money, however, is to discover its principles and to get candidates who truly understand those principles elected to office.

A Sign of Hope

In spite of the leadership’s general disconnect with the grassroots, there was a significant sign of hope. There appears to be some serious resistance to the leadership-led coronation of John Thrasher as the new RPOF Chair. Sharon Day, who currently serves as national committeewoman for Florida, stated that she too is running for RPOF Chair in the election that will take place at the February 20th special meeting in Orlando. “I’m running to give the RPOF members a choice, because there should always be a choice,” Day said when she addressed the state committee Saturday morning.

The RLC applauds those in the RPOF that are supporting the courage of Sharon Day and others that seek to offer a voice to the rank-and-file Republicans. We hope that more in party leadership will stand against the top-down approach taken by many in the RPOF.

Source: RLC Website

Charlie Crist

Governor Charlie Crist bluntly tried to shed two big image problems — his hug of President Obama and past support of the $787 billion federal stimulus package — in a unity party-unity plea Saturday that sounded like a preview of his U.S. Senate campaign theme.

Crist told more than 200 members of the state Republican Executive Committee that “this guy in the White House” is doing more to build the GOP than they could do for themselves. But he stressed that “I do not apologize” for welcoming Obama to Fort Myers or his acceptance of Florida’s share of stimulus cash, which he said kept cops and teachers on the job.

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the aggressive conservative Miamian who has been building momentum in the Senate race, signaled that he won’t let the Obama-stimulus controversy subside in Republican ranks. However Crist explains it now, Rubio said, the governor “cut the legs out from under” the GOP economic alternative in Congress and happily applauded Obama on the president’s first visit to Florida last February.

“Some people criticize me for going down to Fort Myers, being nice to the president of the United States of America. I do not apologize for it and I never will,” Crist said at the state GOP meeting. The governor, who is known for being effusively polite to everyone he meets, said his parents brought him up that way.

“I don’t agree with the guy on hardly anything he does but that’s OK,” he said of Obama. “That’s also part of our great democracy. I mean, what they are doing with health care right now is unbelievable — raising your taxes for it, raising rates for it, taking half a trillion dollars out of Medicare, and the part that bothers me most is, the whole thing has become a covert operation.”

Crist appeared with Obama in Fort Myers last February and thanked him for the stimulus plan, saying it was important for Congress to pass it. When Obama visited Jacksonville late last year, after Crist’s poll numbers had fallen and Rubio’s had risen, the governor did not join the president and said he didn’t even know Obama was in the state.

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

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, a Marco Rubio backer, joins a growing chorus of Republican activists in Florida wanting Jim Greer out: “Jim Greer has shown on numerous occasions that he is incapable of running the Republican party of Florida (RPOF) and refuses to remain neutral in contested primaries.   Mr. Greer has failed at managing the financial, political, and public relations aspects of the state party.

“The latest scandal involving a RPOF operative and the use of a fake Twitter account to disparage a duly elected county Chairman is just another in a long
list of management failures. Further, Greer has shown a bias in the primary of the United States Senate Seat in publically supporting Governor Crist and has repeatedly ignored calls from county party organizations for neutrality. This behavior is inexcusable and Florida Republicans deserve better.

At a time when Republicans across the country are energizing and unifying to defeat the Democrats in 2010, Greer is dividing and deflating Republicans in Florida.I call on Mr. Greer to resign as Chairman of the RPOF.

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

Today the Repubublican Party of Florida took aim at Alex Sink in a mass email.  Below is the message and the graphic that they released with it.

Tallahassee- It has been nine days since Attorney General Bill McCollum announced his opposition to the government run public-option health care plan being pushed by Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress and challenged Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to state her position on the issue. While Alex Sink continues to leave Floridians in the dark and waiting for answers, multiple Democrats from around the State of Florida have come out and made their positions known.

“I would like to encourage Alex and let her know that she doesn’t have to be scared anymore and she no longer needs to hide from the health care issue,” said Chairman Greer. “As a matter of fact, she can continue to dodge taking a true leadership position for the people of Florida and she is free to just mimic the position of one of the other Florida democrats who wasn’t too afraid to take a stand.”

“As this seems to be so simple for everyone else, I thought it would be helpful to remind CFO Sink that on this issue, like many other recent issues, she doesn’t need to lead, she can just follow,” continued Greer. “This isn’t the first time Alex Sink has refused to take a position on an issue and I am certain it won’t be the last.”

Jim Greer

Jim Greer told the St Pete Times earlier today that he’d think about revealing Republican Party of Florida American Express reports if Democrats opened up their books. So Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman said she’ll invite reporters to come look over the finances.

“Because issuing credit cards in a manner similar to the Republican Party of Florida does not allow for the strict financial controls and level of transparency we demand, the Florida Democratic Party doesn’t have credit cards and has nothing to hide,” Thurman said. “The same can not be said of the Republican Party of Florida, which is why I am calling Chairman Greer on his bluff, demanding he open the RPOF’s books to scrutiny and release all the RPOF AmEx statements.

“Over the past several years, the Republican Party has allowed disgraced Speaker Ray Sansom, Sen. Jeff Atwater, Sen. Mike Haridopolos, Rep. Dean Cannon, and many others to spend over $3.4 million on their AmEx cards. By handing out AmEx cards to Republican leaders, Chairman Greer has turned the RPOF into nothing more than a slush fund.”