Florida Chief Financial Officer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink is taking advantage of the growing Florida Republican Party scandal, and calling on Attorney General Bill McCollum to name a special prosecutor to investigate what really went down with former party chair Jim Greer and his severance deal with the party.
In a statement released, Sink says,
It was disclosed this week that you referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, an agency that reports to the Florida Cabinet, a criminal investigation into the Republican Party of Florida’s former Chairman, Jim Greer. I have tremendous respect for the dedication, integrity and professionalism of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and its Commissioner, Gerald Bailey, who was appointed by the Governor and Cabinet, and confirmed by the Florida Senate.
However, because this investigation focuses on the Republican Party of Florida, and Governor Crist, Commissioner Bronson, and you are leaders of the Republican Party, this investigation should have been referred at the outset to an independent prosecutor who does not report to the Cabinet – either the State Attorney’s Office for the Second Judicial Circuit, or the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. It is not appropriate to refer this investigation to a law enforcement agency that works under the direction of the four of us.
I urge you to refer this matter directly to the State Attorney in Leon County and the federal prosecutors for the Northern District of Florida. It is only through a completely independent investigation that Floridians can have confidence that any criminal activity that may have occurred in the Republican Party will be properly addressed. We need an independent prosecutor leading this investigation, and not a Cabinet agency.
Sincerely,
Alex Sink
As CL wrote this morning, this growing scandal demands that Democrats make an issue out of it, as it seems to be growing bigger by the day. The St. Pete Times this morning in an editorial said that there should be a federal investigation.
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