Florida Gov. Rick Scott has been accused of campaign finance violations by the Florida Democratic Party. The complaint was filed on Monday by the Florida state Democratic Party chair, Allison Tant.
According to the complaint, Scott’s reelection campaign illegally transferred $27.4 million from Let’s Get to Work, Scott’s electioneering communication organization, to an identically-named political committee. If Scott is found guilty of these accusations, he will be forced to pay as much as $82 million.
Earlier this month, Let’s Get to Work’s chairman, John French, announced the group’s dismantling “as an electioneering communication organization” the same day that Let’s Get to Work, the political committee, was established and given the $27.4 million.
The Florida Democratic Party argues that Scott broke the law because Florida state law dictates that political committees are allowed to give money to political parties. However, electioneering communication organizations, like Let’s Get to Work, are not allowed. Similarly, electioneering communication organizations are prohibited by law from giving money to political committees.
Scott conceived Let’s Get to Work in 2010 during his first gubernatorial run. He established the group in order to help his campaign stand a chance against his Republican opponent who had the endorsements of ranking GOP members.
According to HuffPost, French has had to explain another financial indiscrepancy regarding Let’s Go to Work. Last week, Scott’s campaign denied receiving a $500,000 donation from sugar company Florida Crystals even though Scott’s group reported the money last year. State records no longer list the donation. French and a Florida Crystal spokesperson said the perceived donation was an “accounting error.” Half a million dollars is a large accounting error.
Scott is up for reelection in November. In one term as governor, Scott has already garnered a reputation as the country’s worst and most crooked governor as he has passed voter suppression laws, killed jobs for Floridians, and has made deals with greedy and brutal private prison firms. All of which are a mere tip of the iceberg.
His opponent, Charlie Crist (D), was last reported leading Scott in the polls.
Josh is a writer and researcher with Ring of Fire. Follow him on Twitter @dnJdeli.
