With their former chairmen already under indictment, the Republican Party of Florida is facing an expanding investigation with the potential to ensnare even elected officials.
Federal investigators sought documents related to the spending of two top officials in the Florida Republican Party, the Miami Herald reported. The newspaper described the latest probe as a “wide-ranging corruption probe by the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney’s Office.”
Scandals tied to credit cards used by officials from the party have been dogging the party for over a year. There are also four unrelated state criminal probes into the party’s former chairman, a fundraiser, a former Florida House speaker and a Capitol insider, the newspaper said.
The subpoena was served at the George H. W. Bush Republican Center in Tallahassee on Election day, said the newspaper. Top officials declined to comment to the newspaper on the federal probe or the subpoena.
“If you throw a rock and hit a Republican in Tallahassee, they probably have been interviewed by an IRS or an FBI agent,” Eric Jotkff, Communications Director of the Florida Democratic Party, told TPM. Reached by TPM, a Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington declined to comment.
An independent audit of the American Express card spending found that nearly $500,000 in expenses had little or nothing to do with party business, the newspaper said.
The new developments come at a time when the former chair of the party, Jim Greer is under indictment on charges that he defrauded the party out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A judge threw out a lawsuit against the party by Greer, who is awaiting trial.
Consultants, donors and numerous senators have already been interviewed by federal investigators, the newspaper said. But the specific targets of the most recent subpoena are unclear.
