Tampa Tribune editorial: Come clean, Florida GOP

By TBO.COM | Staff
Published: February 12, 2013
Updated: February 12, 2013 - 6:51 AM

Jim Greer's surprise guilty plea Monday to charges he stole and laundered more than $200,000 in Republican Party of Florida campaign contributions while party chairman should in no way end this repulsive scandal.

Based on pretrial testimony and other reports, there is more to this case than Greer's criminal behavior. Much more.

All Floridians ? especially Republicans, fund-raisers and campaign contributors ? deserve a full accounting of what happened. The party should reveal all that happened ? not continue to simply blame everything on Greer, as executive director Mike Grissom did immediately after Greer's plea.

"For the past three years," Grissom said in a statement, "Jim Greer has tried to damage the reputation of the Republican Party and its leaders, but the truth is now known that Jim Greer broke the law, stole from the (state party) and then he said and did everything he could to cover up and distract attention from his crimes. Everything Jim Greer has said and done over these past few years should be considered in that light."

Instead of wearing blinders and breathing a sigh of relief that what promised to be an embarrassing trial for the party was avoided, Grissom and other Republican leaders should answer some questions:

Where prostitutes indeed present during a fundraising trip to the Bahamas organized by Greer and the party's then-finance chairman, Harry Sargeant III? Did the Republican Party of Florida work to suppress the votes of black people? Was Greer retaliated against because he supported former Gov. Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate bid? And what about the reports of lavish spending, including at luxury hotels and restaurants, by the party that prides itself on financial conservatism?

It's curious that Greer decided to admit wrongdoing on the morning jury selection was to begin when he and his lawyers repeatedly had said the case was bogus and that he would be cleared. But it doesn't really matter whether Greer fell "on his sword for a lot of other folks" with his guilty plea in Orlando, as one of his lawyers claimed.

The bottom line here is serious questions have been raised about the conduct ? and spending ? of the Republican Party of Florida. Grassroots Republicans, who devote their time, energy and money to the party, deserve answers.

Source: http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2013/feb/12/1/naopino1-come-clean-florida-gop-ar-631522/

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