Second Harris Staffer Talks to FedsProsecutors aren’t stopping with one former senior staffer to Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) – a second one is scheduled to talk with them soon.
Harris, you’ll remember has been caught up in the sprawling Duke Cunningham investigation — admitted felon Mitchell Wade, who bribed Cunningham, feted Harris, showered her with campaign contributions, and Harris made an unsuccessful $10 million earmark for Wade’s company.
Fred Asbell, Harris’ chief of staff who quit in June, reportedly has a date with prosecutors. Ed Rollins, a former consultant to her Senate campaign, spoke to them a couple of weeks ago. He says they talked about Harris’ relationship to Wade, and that “They seemed to know everything I did and more.”
And here’s more about Harris’ denial that she’s “a target,” which as we pointed out yesterday, is part of our patented TPMmuckraker Political Scandal Process. From The St. Petersburg Times:
Former federal prosecutors say her vague statement doesn’t necessarily mean she’s in the clear.
“If she’s not a target, that’s nice, but that doesn’t mean she’s not under scrutiny,” said Ed Page, a former federal prosecutor who works at the Carlton Fields law firm in Tampa. “It’s sort of a play on words.”
*****
Reached at his Washington home this week, Asbell refused to say whom he was or wasn’t talking to but responded to Harris’ statement that she was not a target. “I don’t know where she is getting her information,” he said.
