Former FL GOP chair speaks out. GOP right wing told him "we eat what we kill, chairman."

madfloridian

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Thu Sep-01-11 05:17 PM
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Former FL GOP chair speaks out. GOP right wing told him "we eat what we kill, chairman."

Edited on Thu Sep-01-11 05:21 PM by madfloridian

And that they knew if he stayed money would flow to Charlie Crist.

This is a very interesting and well-done interview by Tampa's WTSP News. I can easily believe so much of what Jim Greer says because the GOP leaders here are just that extreme. They only care about their own power.

Here is a direct link to the Channel 10 video of Greer and his lawyer being interviewed.

It appears depositions of those mentioned in this Part I of the interview are being taken right now. Part II airs tonight at 11:00.

Former GOP Chair Jim Greer opens up for the first time to 10 News Investigators

"If they could have put Charlie Crist in prison they would have done that," Greer says. One of Greer's attorneys, Damon Chase, says the entire episode is going to play out like a Shakespearean tragedy where everybody dies.

...According to Greer, when it came to the leadership and the conservative wing of the party, "They never supported the governor and looked to turn on the governor." Greer adds, "And I was, as many said, the last man standing between the governor and the rest of the party."

Here is more about what others were spending on the GOP card:

But Greer wasn't the only one racking up big charges on the Republican Party credit card. From Speaker Dean Cannon buying suits and having $2,000 steak dinners, to Marco Rubio charging more than $4,000 for flooring at his home, money was being spent at such a breakneck pace that Democrats spoofed Rubio in a mock American Express ad saying, "Marco Rubio can afford a lot of things, but what he can't there's always the Republican Party credit card."

It was the way the party operated and Greer says representatives from the Senate and House came to him shortly after being elected party leader and explained how the fundraising and credit cards were used by the party.

According to Greer, "They wanted to make clear that I understand a term I never heard before, 'That we eat what we kill, chairman.'" Greer says he had to have it explained to him and was told, "If we raise a million dollars for Senate and House campaigns and we want to have baseball games, limousines and five star hotels, don't you or anyone else ever tell us we can't."

Here is more about the depositions now going on.

From the Miami Herald:

House Speaker Cannon, Sen. Thrasher deposed. Is FL v. Jim Greer falling apart?

At the center of the depositions and Greer's defense is a Jan. 4, 2010 severance agreement signed by Cannon, Thrasher, Gonzalez, then-incoming Senate President Mike Haridopolos and others. One draft of the document specifically mentioned Victory Strategies. The final didn't mention the company. But it was pretty exonerating in its wording.

"RPOF stipulates and agrees that all RPOF expenditures made during Greer's term as RPOF Chairman were proper, lawful, appropriate, and served the interests of RPOF, and RPOF specifically acknowledges that all expense reimbursements of any kind, American Express account expenditures, consultant fees, fundraising fees, agreements, service fees, travel and dining expenses were proper and authorized and otherwise ratified by RPOF," the document said.

Republicans later argued that they didn't know Greer was behind Victory Strategies. Chase said that's tough to believe, and the agreement speaks for itself. He said the contract disproves the fraud charges Greer faces, and that his client is owed his $123,750 severance.

"Cannon said Greer should've been paid, that he tried to get RPOF to pay but they wouldn�t do it," Chase said. "The headline is: Dean Cannon admits Jim Greer did nothing wrong."

Just for interest, Dean Cannon is one behind the movement to weaken judges in Florida.

Businesses Back Move To Weaken Florida Judges

House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park -- and powerful business groups -- are driving the sweeping changes, which will likely find a receptive audience in the strongly conservative leaders running the Florida Legislature.
CHRIS O'MEARA | AP PHOTO

Knowing what we know now of how the Florida right wing extremists operate, knowing what we know now of how the party's right wing treated Charlie Crist...I find Greer's interview most interesting.

Seems it comes down to teaparty love of Rubio.