Thurman Letter To Crist: Campaign's Use Of Sansom Shows Why Special Prosecutor Is Need In RPOF Case

Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman send the following letter to Governor Crist today, renewing demands that Crist appoint a Special Prosecutor to investigate allegations of corruption at the Republican Party of Florida. A copy of the letter can be downloaded by clicking here.

February 23, 2010

The Honorable Charlie Crist
The Capitol
Tallahassee, FL 32399

Dear Governor Crist,

I write today to once again demand that you start an independent investigation into the alleged corruption at the Republican Party of Florida by appointing a Special Prosecutor.

As you may know, your Campaign Manager Eric Eikenberg released a statement yesterday to the press requesting that Speaker Marco Rubio provide all relevant documents regarding the ongoing investigation of Speaker Ray Sansom:

"As you are well aware, your hand picked budget chief, Rep. Ray Sansom, resigned from his House seat yesterday... It is essential that the Republican primary voters and the people of Florida understand the role that a potential U.S. Senator might have played in matters that are now under investigation. To that end, we are confident that you will agree to release all emails and documents between Rep. Sansom, yourself, and your respective staff. We look forward to your response."

While I remain disappointed by your refusal to take action to hold Sansom accountable, it is encouraging that after 15 months of ignoring Republican corruption in Tallahassee, you finally recognize that Floridians are fed up with Republican politicians who have protected their political cronies rather than doing what is right for Florida.

Over that time, information that came to light in large part because of the investigations into Speaker Sansom have led to many more allegations of corruption within the Republican Party of Florida. Almost all of these allegations have one thing in common - the RPOF AmEx cards that were given to Republican politicians including Speaker Rubio, Rep. Dean Cannon, Sen. Jeff Atwater, and many others.

Unfortunately, despite a mountain of evidence and allegations from many leading Republicans of corruption at the RPOF, AG Bill McCollum refuses to order an investigation. With AG McCollum's reported involved in many of the backroom dealings at the RPOF, this conflict of interest serves to question his motivation not to investigate.

Based on your apparent change of heart yesterday, I would like to renew my demand today that you appoint a Special Prosecutor because only an independent investigation can legitimately determine if crimes were committed by Republican politicians like Rubio, Cannon, and Atwater, and discover why Attorney General Bill McCollum has refused to take action on the matter.

To echo Mr. Eikenberg, it is essential that the people of Florida understand the role that our state's elected leaders played in the current scandals plaguing the Republican Party of Florida.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Karen Thurman

Chair, Florida Democratic Party