Probe casts shadow on Rubio
By: David Catanese
April 21, 2010
Politico.com
A widening federal criminal investigation into the state Republican Party’s credit card usage is unsettling the Florida GOP Senate primary, raising concerns about its potential effect on GOP front-runner Marco Rubio’s campaign and providing hope to Democrats who believe it could be the story line that stalls the surging conservative’s momentum.
The Internal Revenue Service is now exploring the tax records of Rubio, former state party Chairman Jim Greer and former GOP Executive Director Delmar Johnson to determine whether they improperly used party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a joint report Wednesday by the Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times.
The inquiry, which stemmed from the indictment of former state House Speaker Ray Sansom, will in part focus on the more than $100,000 Rubio charged to a state party American Express card during the two years he was House speaker. In addition, the FBI is looking into whether Sansom and others made false statements on their tax returns.
The probe has cast a shadow over the GOP primary, in which Florida Gov. Charlie Crist must soon decide whether to remain a candidate or run as an independent. The governor has targeted Rubio’s credit card spending for months, arguing that it undercuts his fiscal conservative credentials. To date, however, the scrutiny hasn’t registered much of an impact, as Rubio has built a double-digit lead in polls and recently raked in a jaw-dropping quarterly fundraising haul.
(More here.)
April 21, 2010
Politico.com
A widening federal criminal investigation into the state Republican Party’s credit card usage is unsettling the Florida GOP Senate primary, raising concerns about its potential effect on GOP front-runner Marco Rubio’s campaign and providing hope to Democrats who believe it could be the story line that stalls the surging conservative’s momentum.
The Internal Revenue Service is now exploring the tax records of Rubio, former state party Chairman Jim Greer and former GOP Executive Director Delmar Johnson to determine whether they improperly used party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a joint report Wednesday by the Miami Herald and the St. Petersburg Times.
The inquiry, which stemmed from the indictment of former state House Speaker Ray Sansom, will in part focus on the more than $100,000 Rubio charged to a state party American Express card during the two years he was House speaker. In addition, the FBI is looking into whether Sansom and others made false statements on their tax returns.
The probe has cast a shadow over the GOP primary, in which Florida Gov. Charlie Crist must soon decide whether to remain a candidate or run as an independent. The governor has targeted Rubio’s credit card spending for months, arguing that it undercuts his fiscal conservative credentials. To date, however, the scrutiny hasn’t registered much of an impact, as Rubio has built a double-digit lead in polls and recently raked in a jaw-dropping quarterly fundraising haul.
(More here.)
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