Tampa Bay Times senior correspondent Lucy Morgan with a column on the upcoming Jim Greer trial:
Who wins if next week's criminal trial of former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer is a prolonged public affair airing all of the party's dirty laundry?
Some think Gov. Rick Scott would like a drawn-out drama just in case something falls on former Gov. Charlie Crist, a potential 2014 opponent who hired Greer and is listed as a witness for both sides. Scott is about the only Republican in town who had nothing to do with the party before he was elected in 2010 and it's likely he's never met Greer.
Republicans running the party these days hate Greer and don't appear to have any culpability in the accusations against him of fraud, money laundering and grand theft. They also hate Crist for hiring Greer and switching parties. So they don't have much to lose if the trial gets ugly.
Some Republicans, particularly lobbyists who are entangled in the drama as witnesses, just want it all to end.
Greer fuels the hope of memorable theatrics with every interview, promising a Shakespearean tragedy in which “everyone dies in the end.’’ He maintains he is an innocent victim of right-wing officials who were angry at Crist and vows to show us what goes on behind the curtain in the Florida GOP.
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