Crist's lawyer accuses Greer of witness tampering

A lawyer for former Gov. Charlie Crist has accused former GOP Chairman Jim Greer and his lawyer of possible witness tampering.

John Morgan, the senior partner in the law firm where Crist now works, has told agents from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that Damon Chase, the Lake Mary lawyer who represents Greer, pressured him to have Crist change his testimony or face embarrassing personal questions. Morgan said he represents Crist.

Greer is charged with fraud, money laundering and theft of almost $200,000 from the Florida Republican Party by creating Victory Strategies, a company that billed the party for consulting work. Greer faces trial July 30 in Orlando.

Documents released late Friday by Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Michael Williams include the FDLE report documenting Morgan’s call to FDLE on May 17. The call was made a few days after Morgan said he received a call from Chase suggesting that Crist could avoid giving a deposition in the criminal case if he was willing to revise an earlier affidavit that denied knowledge of the company Greer was creating.

More here from Lucy Morgan.

ACLU sues Florida over noncitizen voter purge

From a press release:

TAMPA – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLUFL), the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL) and the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP today filed a legal challenge to Florida’s efforts to make lawful citizens and already legally registered voters re-verify their citizenship or lose their ability to vote.

“The illegal program to purge eligible voters uses inaccurate information to remove eligible citizens from the voter rolls,” said Howard Simon, Executive Director of ACLUFL. “It seems that Governor Scott and his Secretary of State cannot speak without hiding what they mean in political spin. They mislead Floridians by calling their illegal list purge ‘protecting citizen's voting rights.’ This is precisely why Congress has re-enacted, and why we continue to need, the Voting Rights Act – to prevent state officials from interfering with the constitutional rights of minorities. We now look to the courts to stop the Scott administration from assaulting democracy by denying American citizens the right to vote.”

[VIDEO] Political candidates make last-minute scramble as qualifying deadline hits

The deadline for qualifying for Florida's various political races hit at 12 noon Friday, and many aspiring candidates rushed to the Division of Elections to file last minute paperwork

Alex Diaz de la Portilla, a former state Senator, filed paperwork at the last minute to run for an open seat in the Florida House of Representatives.

Here's a video chronicling the last-minute scramble at the Florida Division of Elections.

 

@ToluseO

Alex Diaz de la Portilla seeks comeback -- in the House

One of the last people to whisk through the state Division of Elections on the last day of candidate qualifying Friday was a familiar face: Alex Diaz de la Portilla, a former Senate majority leader who filed papers seeking a return to the Legislature in the House in District 112, an open seat in Miami-Dade.

He enters a Republican primary against former Rep. Gus Barreiro and Eric Padron. Two Democrats also filed for the seat, Alex Dominguez and Jose Javier Rodriguez. It's the only legislative seat in Miami-Dade with contested primaries in both parties.

Diaz de la Portilla, 47, at one point was eyeing a Senate seat in North Miami-Dade, but that seat is likely to be held by Democrat Gwen Margolis. "That district is obviously not favorable to me," he said. "You have to be realistic in politics. Sen. Margolis is an institution. She always has been." 

As for his House candidacy, he said: "I'm excited about it. I think it's important to bring some experience and some institutional knowledge back to the process in the House." The Miami-Dade political consultant previously served in the House from 1994-2000, followed by 10 years in the Senate.

Alex DLP's brother, Miguel, was re-elected to the Senate without opposition Friday. A third brother, Renier, who previously served in the House, qualified as a Republican candidate in House District 103.

-- Steve Bousquet

What's in a name? Smith or Smithmyer in Democrat dominated Senate seat

Florida voters will have to read carefully this election cycle as the wiley Republicans have pulled a ballot trick that appears to be intended to create some voter confusion.

In a surprise move on Friday, Senate Republicans persuaded Christopher Smithmyer, who had intended to run as a candidate in House District 100, to switch to the seat held by none other than Chris Smith,the Democrat's choice for incoming caucus leader and a Fort Lauderdale attorney. Smithmyer is a 29-year-old attorney who lives in Davie and teaches at the online Everest University.

The district is 43 percent black and is dominated by registered Democrats. The ballot for the District 31 seat based on Broward and Palm Beach counties will now look like this: Christopher "Chris" Smith, Dem v. Christopher "Chris" Smithmyer, Rep.

We've seen something like this before in 2006 when J.P. Planas, the third cousin of former state Rep. J.C. Planas, qualified to run in the Miami-based seat. The incumbent, J.C. Planas, sued saying that his cousin failed to file the proper paperwork and successfully knocked J.P. off the ballot.

PPP: Scott's popularity keeps dropping, even within his own party

Public Policy Polling obviously took this survey before last night's legendary LeBron show, concluding that the polarizing LeBron James is more popular than the governor. Nonetheless their findings on Gov. Rick Scott are interesting as they find that the governor's popularity in the midst of the voter purge is dropping, even within his own party.

Key point: "Scott’s undoing begins with dwindling support in his own party. Just 53% of Republicans approve of his job performance, down from 60% in April. 17% of Republicans would rather take their chances with unknown Democrat Nan Rich in the gubernatorial election than vote for Scott."

Tom Jensen, PPP director writes:

Statewide primary ballot set as clock strikes noon

The end of the week-long candidate qualifying period Friday formally kicks off a lively fall election cycle full of change in this year of redistricting.

Florida’s 27-member congressional delegation will get at least four new members this fall, thanks to two new seats created by population gains and the departure of Connie Mack IV to run for the Senate. A fourth open seat is in Palm Beach and Broward counties. At least one incumbent member of Congress will be sent home, as Republican Reps. Sandy Adams and John Mica Jr. will face each other in the 7th Congressional District. Fate smiled on one member of Congress who was re-elected without opposition: Republican Dennis Ross of Lakeland.

At least 14 new state senators will join the Legislature this fall — and four of them will be from the Tampa Bay area. First-term Republican Sen. Jim Norman of Tampa drew three GOP opponents, and former Senate President Tom Lee of Brandon will face Rep. Rachel Burgin in another seat. It’s the biggest one-year turnover in the 40-member Senate since the advent of term limits.

In Palm Beach County, Democratic Reps. Mack Bernard and Jeff Clemens are vying for the same Senate seat, while in another Palm Beach/Broward Senate seat, two incumbents will square off: Republican Ellyn Bogdanoff and Democrat Maria Sachs.

A number of other senators were elected without opposition or face only token write-in opposition in the fall.

Four South Florida senators got free rides back to Tallahassee: Democrat Oscar Braynon and Republicans Anitere Flores, Rene Garcia and Miguel Diaz de la Portilla.

Thirty-eight House seats are open across the state, meaning no incumbent is running. And in two Miami-Dade House districts, incumbents will face off against each other in yet another by-product of redistricting. Miami’s House District 107 features Democrats John Patrick Julien and Barnara Watson, and District 116 pits Republicans Jose Felix Diaz and Ana Rivas Logan against each other.

Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau

Omitting facts, conservative pub misleadingly questions Sen. Bill Nelson's condo deal with contributor

***Update

The conservative Washington Free Beacon publication came out with a report questioning Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson's recent purchase of an Orlando condo from a developer who's a contributor.

And I wish I had never posted it. I apologize. Speed kills. But falsehoods kill the credibility of those who shop them. It's unclear if that matters anymore.

This piece, a GOP oppo dump, misses some major context and omits facts, according both to Nelson's office, a trusted colleague and a plain reading of the law, the Mortgage Forgiveness Tax Relief Act, which would not apply to developers but a person's "principal residence." But the Beacon suggests there's a quid-pro-quo at play, when really there's no evidence of that.

Also, the proposed Act is an extension of already existing law. So the contributor-developer, Francis Issa, would already have benefited from the already existing statute, not this extension. But again, this extension wouldn't benefit him anyway.

As for the deal Nelson allegedly got, it's not a shock that a one-time $1 million property sold for $717,800. Florida real estate is still horrible, and the condo market is even worse. Every buyer gets a legal/ethical steal nowadays who's a buyer. Indeed, another buyer got almost the same deal next door to Nelson but for "$725,000—$2 more per square foot than Nelson’s condo," the Beacon notes. It doesn't mention what Nelson's office says: That the added price was because that other condo was fully furnished; Nelson's wasn't.