Republican Party of Florida releases $7.3 million in American Express statements
By John Frank, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
In Print: Saturday, May 8, 2010
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist took chartered helicopters and his wealthy wife let the Republican Party pay for her airfare. A top GOP official charged $368,000 in a single month. And another party staffer collected enough credit card rewards points to earn a diamond-studded watch.
This is what it was like at the Republican Party of Florida under former chairman Jim Greer, whose lavish spending and secret dealings led to his ouster and sparked a federal criminal investigation.
But it's just a glimpse from the 2,452 double-sided pages of credit card records released Friday by the party in an effort to quell further speculation amid the ongoing controversy.
The documents detail how 31 party officials spent $7.3 million since 2007 — specific expenses never disclosed in public campaign finance reports.
SNIP
We were looking over the RPOF financial reports last year. The travel expenses were astounding. In one case, Jim Greer traveled to Great Britain on the GOP’s dime. In another case, Jim Greer traveled on a private jet from Orlando to Sarasota. Someone who left Orlando approximately the same time via car arrived in Sarasota before Greer. Disgusting.