Here it is: the secret severance offered to Greer

The state Republican Party is denying the severance agreement (download here) with Jim Greer is valid, saying the former chairman didn't sign the documents. Greer's attorney contends otherwise in a letter to the party written Tuesday (download). But what is lost is the fact the party offered him a severance and the party treasurers offered to absolve him, despite previous denials to the contrary. 

Here's Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos to Times/Herald reporter Marc Caputo: "We have not signed anything. There were a lot of papers going back and forth. We want to clean up this party ... There is nothing out there that binds anybody to anything."

Here's party Chairman John Thrasher to Times/Herald reporter Steve Bousquet: "There is no document to that effect to my knowledge."

If you parse the words, they might wiggle out clean. But Haridopolos definitely signed the documents and there definitely was a document. (The signature pages are separate because they were not in one location and were instead faxed.)

The party says it didn't see a copy with Greer's signature until this week. Interim Party Director Bret Prater sent this letter to Greer on Feb. 17, after the revelations of the Delmar Johnson contract, revoking the offers.

As the party's audit committee prepared to meet, Greer's attorney sent this letter outlining reminding the party of the severance agreement and mentioning the "hush money" allegation.

But a real feisty letter is the one Greer's attorney wrote to the party amid the Johnson fallout that said in part: "For the good of the Party, I respectfully submit that rather than wasting precious resources attempting to circumvent the clear and unambiguous obligations the RPOF has to Mr. Greer, you gentlemen need to be slapping a tourniquet on the incessant hemorrhaging of confidential internal affairs to the press." 

Here's Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos to Times/Herald reporter Marc Caputo: "We have not signed anything. There were a lot of papers going back and forth. We want to clean up this party ... There is nothing out there that binds anybody to anything."

Here's party Chairman John Thrasher to Times/Herald reporter Steve Bousquet: "There is no document to that effect to my knowledge."

If you parse the words, they might wiggle out clean. But Haridopolos definitely signed the documents and there definitely was a document. (The signature pages are separate because they were not in one location and were instead faxed.)

The party says it didn't see a copy with Greer's signature until this week. Interim Party Director Bret Prater sent this letter to Greer on Feb. 17, after the revelations of the Delmar Johnson contract, revoking the offers.

As the party's audit committee prepared to meet, Greer's attorney sent this letter outlining reminding the party of the severance agreement and mentioning the "hush money" allegation.

But a real feisty letter is the one Greer's attorney wrote to the party amid the Johnson fallout that said in part: "For the good of the Party, I respectfully submit that rather than wasting precious resources attempting to circumvent the clear and unambiguous obligations the RPOF has to Mr. Greer, you gentlemen need to be slapping a tourniquet on the incessant hemorrhaging of confidential internal affairs to the press."