There are less than two months to go until Florida voters make a decision in the governor’s race. Attack ads keep coming from both sides in the race.
The Republican Party of Florida is trying to link former Gov. Charlie Crist to convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein. Rothstein was convicted in 2010 for his ties to a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme and sentenced to 50 years in prison. In a new ad, the RPOF claims:
"Convicted swindler Scott Rothstein bought expensive things with stolen money. He even bought a governor. Rothstein boasted about contributing huge sums of money to the campaign of then Gov. Charlie Crist and the influence it gave him over judicial appointments. Now cooperating with prosecutors, Scott Rothstein admits he gave hundreds of thousands of campaign cash to control Crist’s appointments of key state judges."
PolitiFact Florida examined the claim for truthfulness. Writer Linda Qiu says the claim rates HALF TRUE. Qiu says it’s clear Rothstein had ties to the Crist campaign, but it gets stickier after that.
“It's true that Rothstein gave a lot of money to the Republican Party of Florida when Crist was a Republican,” Qiu said. “And he even gave some money directly to Crist for fundraisers and even a birthday party.”
In August 2008, Crist appointed Rothstein to the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach. The JNC is a nine-member panel that recommends applicants for the governor to appoint.
The claim from RPOF centers around testimony Rothstein gave in February 2014 in a related case. In the testimony, Rothstein said he was able to convince then-Gov. Crist of a lot of things, including appointing people to judicial positions. But Qiu said his membership on the board wasn’t always influential.
“We also talked to a couple of the members of the commission that served with him,” Qiu said. “And no one recalls Rothstein being a particularly vocal member of the commission.”
Because there are is no clear accounting of conversations between Crist and Rothstein about judicial appointments, PolitiFact rated the claim HALF TRUE.
SOURCES: SCOTT ROTHSTEIN'S TIES TO FORMER GOVERNOR CHARLIE CRIST
- PolitiFact's ruling
- Republican Party of Florida, "For sale" TV ad, Aug. 18, 2014
- U.S. Court District of Florida, Scott Rothstein transcript in the Christina Kitterman trial, February 2014
- Florida Division of Elections, State campaign finance records, 2006-2009
- Federal Election Commission, Campaign finance records, 2006-2009
- Center for Responsive Politics, Charlie Crist Top 100 Contributors, 2009-10
- Gov. Rick Scott, Judicial Nominating Commission, Accessed Aug. 21, 2014
- Palm Beach Post, "Ponzi schemer Rothstein: wooing politicians, including Crist and McCain, key to success," Feb. 5, 2014
- CBS4, "Scott Rothstein wraps up testimony in trial of former employee," Feb. 6, 2014
- Broward/Palm Beach New Times The Daily Pulp blog, "Rothstein’s castle (and throne)," Nov. 19, 2009
- Broward/Palm Beach New Times, "Rothstein dealings with Broward health raise questions about judicial appointment," Nov. 18, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Rothstein auction of exotic cars and luxury yachts live," June 2010
- Browardbeat.com, "Rothstein hires two defeated judges, but one got away," Jan. 4, 2009
- Miami Herald, "Ponzi schemer Rothstein’s former partner pleads guilty in Miami," June 11, 2014
- Miami Herald, "Rothstein describes the inner workings of his swindle," Feb. 5, 2014
- Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, "Photo: the 52k Ponzi cake for Charlie Crist’s B’day," Nov. 6, 2009
- Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, "Florida Supreme Court disbars Scott Rothstein," Nov. 25, 2009
- Miami Herald, "Lawyer Scott Rothstein: The rise and fall of a wheeler dealer," Accessed in Nexis, Nov. 8., 2009
- Miami Herald, "Rothstein `fraud' funded campaign donations," Dec. 2, 2009
- Miami Herald editorial board, "Herald recommends Broward County Circuit court," Accessed in Nexis, Aug. 13, 2010
- Tampa Bay Times, "FSU frat brothers giving Crist a fundraising boost," Accessed in Nexis, July 23, 2006
- Tampa Bay Times The Buzz blog, "Weeks later, Crist boots Rothstein from judicial commish," Nov. 24, 2009
- Tampa Bay Times The Buzz blog, "Maurice Ferre calls for Crist/Rothstein investigation," Dec. 1, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Key dates and data in the life and career of attorney Scott Rothstein," Accessed in Nexis, Nov. 9, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Inside the world of Scott Rothstein," Accessed Aug. 21, 2014
- Sun-Sentinel, Database: Scott Rothstein’s political donations, 2006-09
- Sun-Sentinel, "Crist taps pair for judgeships," Jan. 29, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Crist had ‘no reason’ to suspect Rothstein," Dec. 18, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Rothstein said ex-employee Kitterman was ‘in the game," Feb. 6, 2014
- Sun-Sentinel, "The laws of diversity: minorities underrepresented in polarized Broward judiciary," Accessed in Nexis, Nov. 9, 2008
- Sun-Sentinel," 20 candidates vying for county court seats," Accessed in Nexis, Aug. 7, 2010
- Shark Tank blog, "Charlie Crist discusses GOP ad attacking his past friendship with Ponzi-schemer,"Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, Brendan Gilfillan, Gov. Charlie Crist campaign spokesman, Aug. 19, 2014
- Interview, John Tupps, spokesman Gov. Rick Scott, Aug. 21, 2014
- Interview, Chuck Malkus, author of The Ultimate Ponzi, Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, Debra Jenks, lawyer and chair of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, Aug. 21, 2014
- interview, Kara Rockenbach, lawyer and chair of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission in 2008-09 during Scott Rothstein’s tenure, Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, Greg Barnhart, lawyer and member of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission during Scott Rothstein’s tenure, Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, Gordon James, lawyer and member of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission during Scott Rothstein’s tenure, Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, David Ackerman, lawyer and member of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission during Scott Rothstein’s tenure, Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, Donald J. Beuttenmuller, Jr., lawyer and member of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission during Scott Rothstein’s tenure, Aug. 20, 2014
- Interview, Abigail Obre, spokeswoman Broward Health, Aug. 25, 2014