Posted on 07/27/2012 11:59:48 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
The Florida Commission on Ethics dismissed a long lingering complaint against U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on Friday, clearing him of wrongdoing in questions surrounding his use of a state GOP-issued credit card.
"This was a politically motivated and frivolous complaint from the start, and Sen. Rubio is pleased that the commission dismissed it on all counts," spokesman Alex Burgos said.
The March 2010 ethics complaint came during Rubio's Senate campaign against then-Gov. Charlie Crist, and was filed by Michael D. Ryan of Fort Lauderdale, who said he based it on articles in the Tampa Bay Times (then the St. Petersburg Times) and Miami Herald.
......The ethics commission found no probable cause. But an investigator had harsh words for Rubio, saying the level of "negligence" exhibited by Rubio's confusion between GOP American Express and his own MasterCard and failing to recognize the error on monthly statements was "disturbing." But he concluded that the facts do not rise to level of "intentional wrongful act necessary to prove corrupt intent for successful prosecution."
Rubio refused to be interviewed by the investigator, filing an affidavit instead, according to the report. "I was offended by Mr. Rubio's refusal to be interviewed," commissioner Jean Larsen said during a hearing Friday. "Preparing a statement and having someone sign something is vastly different than eyeball to eyeball talking to someone. That just made me question more."
Rubio's lawyer, Robert Fernandez, said he believed Rubio cooperated fully.
Rubio earlier this year asked the ethics commission to wrap up its investigation — which threatened to hang over him as he entered the national political sphere and has landed on Mitt Romney's vice presidential shortlist.
(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...
So the commissioner takes the word of some asswipe who files a frivolous complaint against Rubio base on MSM articles, but has a problem with an affidavit?
“Others raised questions, such as the nearly $4,000 he billed the Republican Party of Florida for a rental car in Miami and repairs to his family minivan, which he said was damaged by a valet at a political event.’
Doesn’t he carry auto insurance? Can’t he park his own car?
“But an investigator had harsh words for Rubio, saying the level of “negligence” exhibited by Rubio’s confusion between GOP American Express and his own MasterCard and failing to recognize the error on monthly statements was “disturbing.””
Can a man who is sloppy with his personal expenses be trusted with the taxpayer’s money? Millions of Americans carry an employer credit card in their wallets alongside their personal credit cards and seem to be able to know which one to use at the appropriate time.
“Rubio acknowledged double-billing state taxpayers and the party for eight plane fares to Tallahassee, calling it a mistake and repaid the party.”
I’ve filled out company T&E reports for over 30 years and never had the problem of double billing. I’ve also witnessed employees in the company who made these types of “mistakes” and were immediately fired with the “mistake” was detected.
“Rubio refused to be interviewed by the investigator, filing an affidavit instead, according to the report.”
More disturbing behavior suggesting arrogance instead of the humility one would desire in a representative of the people. If his behavior was totally appropriate, he should have welcomed the chance to meet face-to-face with the investigators. Too bad we common citizens usually don’t have the option of refusing to meet when a government investigator wants to question our behavior.
Even if the accusation and investigation was politically motivated, Mr. Rubio’s documented behavior was not above reproach. History shows the road to political corruption begins with small “mistakes”. If we condemn Timothy Geithner for his fumbling with Turbotax, and Barack Obama for his real estate deal with Tony Rezko, we must not give young charismatic conservative politicians a pass.
Why don’t you throw your hat in the ring and show everyone how it’s done?
And
....based it on articles in the Tampa Bay Times (then the St. Petersburg Times) and Miami Herald.
And for daring to run against Charlie Crist.
Yet the Dems get away with stuff like this (until it stinks so bad it can't be ignored).
I happen to like Rubio A LOT, but I agree, he did seem to slither out of this one. I’ve never had a problem double-billing my employer for expenses, or using his credit card for personal expenses.
The valet stuff, you pretty much stuck with at his level. It sucks and I avoid those people like the plague - I simply don’t like the idea of others driving my cars...but then maybe that’s because of how I grew up. In fact, my best friend took a rental car on a long-distance trip and had the oil changed during the trip (something that I would consider too). His only mistake was asking for re-reimbursement. I would treat it like fuel and eat the cost.
There was a lot of corruption in the Florida GOP, and Rubio was not immune to it
Still is scary that people think Rubio is some kind of conservative wonder-boy...when he supports Illegal Alien Amnesty, the Muslim Brotherhood, and tax payer funded Global Warming Hoax nonsense.
Living in Florida, and being aware of La Raza Rubio more than some out-of-state “R is always Conservative” voter....there is more truth to this Rubio/Credit Card thing than his supporters will want to believe
Rubio is beginning to sound more like John McCain every day.
One of those was enough to last me a life time.
..."This was a politically motivated and frivolous complaint from the start, and Sen. Rubio is pleased that the commission dismissed it on all counts," spokesman Alex Burgos said... complaint came during Rubio's Senate campaign against then-Gov. Charlie Crist, and was filed by Michael D. Ryan of Fort Lauderdale, who said he based it on articles... Rubio refused to be interviewed by the investigator, filing an affidavit instead, according to the report. "I was offended by Mr. Rubio's refusal to be interviewed," commissioner Jean Larsen said... Rubio's lawyer, Robert Fernandez, said he believed Rubio cooperated fully.Had it been a Demwit (or Crist), Michael D. Ryan's entire life and business would have been plastered all over the media.
In otherwords, the regressive media will ignore that he was dismissed. Years from now they will continue to bring it up as if the charges had never been dismissed?
Along with Article II? Native now means "Natural?" So Scalia, Thomas, Alito, and Thomas can't figure this out? I'll go with what the SCOTUS decides. What is a citizen? Is the offspring of two aliens a US Citizen? A Natural Born Citizen? What if the aliens are illegal?
Will the SCOTUS continue to ignore this after the election? So many questions, so little time.
This clears the way for Rubio to be nominated VP. The investigator is wrong, although I can see the point. Rubio’s not going to flub the chance to be VP over some two-bit “investigation”.
Still not eligible for VP or President.
Next.
Why wouldn’t he be eligible?
Parents were not citizens when he was born.
Although born here, he was a dual citizen at birth, not natural born.His parents were under the jurisdiction of another country, Cuba.
He can be a Senator. But he cannot be President or Vice President.
Unless we just want to shred what remains of our Constitution.
“Why don’t you throw your hat in the ring and show everyone how it’s done?”
Been there, done that. I’ve been filing employer and client expense forms for over 35 years. I’ve never made the mistake of billing twice or using an employer credit card for personal expenses. I’ve never been challenged by employers or clients for expenses I’ve filed. The few times I’ve perceived an expense could be charged to an employer but might also be a considered by someone to be a personal expense, I always err on the side of paying for the expense out of my own pocket. Integrity is important to me and I’ve always walked the talk as a husband, father, employee, and leader. Unfortunately being beyond reproach doesn’t seem to be a concern of many politicians.
Sorry, I just don’t understand how someone who aspires to be a Senator, Vice President, President, or Secretary of the Treasury can’t keep expenses straight or file an income tax return properly. As far as I’m concerned there is no gray area when it comes to managing money. You are either ethical or you aren’t. Mistakes like double billing or charging personal expenses to an organization’s credit card don’t just happen. I feel the same way about Mr. Geithner and his failure to report all of his income on his federal tax form — it wasn’t a simple mistake.
As a citizen and taxpayer I hold Mr. Rubio and other Republicans to the same standards I hold the Democrats. I don’t have to “throw my hat in the ring” to demonstrate appropriate ethical behavior. In observing people over a lifetime I’ve seen people who start out in life with small ethical lapses gravitating to large ethical lapses later in life. A simple meal with a supplier evolves to a large value Christmas gift, evolves to a paid vacation at a luxury resort, evolves to a secret payment to a Swiss bank account, evolves to confidential information being shared inappropriately. People beyond reproach, whether businesspeople or politicians, take pride in their reputations and are diligent in making sure their behavior can never be questioned.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.