Cuba

NPR Reports Additional Inconsistencies Found In Marco Rubio's Family History

Jillian Rayfield | October 25, 2011, 2:20PM

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

There may be even more inconsistencies in Marco Rubio's version of his family history, which he's recently been accused of "embellishing" for political gain.

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Marco Rubio

Rubio Denies 'Outrageous' Story Claiming He Embellished Family History

Jillian Rayfield | October 21, 2011, 10:45AM

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) called it "outrageous" that people are questioning the story of his family history, after the Washington Post published a story suggesting that his parents came to the United States before Fidel Castro took power, contrary to what Rubio has claimed in the past.

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David Mauricio Rivera

Marco Rubio's Ex-Roomie Attacked Over Car Crash, Alleged Domestic Violence (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | August 20, 2010, 9:49AM

A 2002 flyer attacking current FL-25 House candidate David Rivera (R).

Meet David M. Rivera. In 1994, a woman named Jenia Dorticos filed a petition for a domestic-violence restraining order against him in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

Now, meet David Mauricio Rivera. He's a Republican candidate for Congress in Florida's 25th district -- one that the National Republican Congressional Committee singled out as a "Young Gun." Since 2002, he's been a member of Florida House of Representatives, working his way up to his current position in which he oversees the state budget for education, transportation, housing and economic development.

Rivera has worked closely with GOP Senate nominee Marco Rubio. They are so close, in fact, that Rivera refers to himself as a "disciple" of Rubio, and the two owned a Tallahassee house together until last month, when it went into foreclosure (a fact Rivera initially denied).

And so begins the story of another strange election controversy in the Sunshine State, revealed in an joint investigation by the Miami Herald and a local television station.

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Jim Greer

Greer Pleads Not Guilty To Fraud Charges

Rachel Slajda | July 6, 2010, 9:34AM

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer

Former Florida GOP Chair Jim Greer pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud on Thursday. A tentative trial date was set for Oct. 18, two weeks before Florida's Senate and gubernatorial elections.

Greer is facing six felony counts of grand theft, fraud and money laundering stemming from allegations that, as chair, he secretly awarded a party contract to his own shell company and funneled 10 percent of the party's donations to the firm. He was ousted as chair in January over charges of financial mismanagement of the party.

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Tim D'Annunzio

GOPers Try To Derail Tea Party Favorite

Zachary Roth | May 25, 2010, 10:42AM

North Carolina congressional candidate Tim D'Annunzio

North Carolina Republicans are circulating court documents that suggest a far-right Tea-Party-backed congressional candidate claimed to be the Messiah, tried to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid as the New Jerusalem on Greenland, and found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona.

Tim D'Annunzio also has written that he wants to abolish several key government departments, including the IRS. But there's more going on here than just another wacky conservative politician. The effort by GOP leaders to stop D'Annunzio at all costs offers an intriguing test case of their ability to keep control of the party in the face of challenges from the Tea Party wing. Or as D'Annunzio himself has put it: "The power brokers in Raleigh and in Washington are willing to go to any length and use any unscrupulous tactic to try to destroy somebody. They think that they're losing their control over the Republican party."

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Florida

Report: Meek Sought Earmarks For Developer Who Paid His Staffer, Hired His Mom

Justin Elliott | May 17, 2010, 10:26AM

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL)

Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL), who is running for Senate in Florida, sought earmarks to help a developer who gave a top Meek staffer $13,000 in 2003 for a down payment on a house, and paid Meek's mother, former congresswoman Carrie Meek, $90,000 plus use of a Cadillac Escalade for consulting services, the Miami Herald reports.

The developer, Dennis Stackhouse, is now facing fraud charges associated with the Poinciana Park project in Liberty City, Miami, a proposed biopharmaceutical complex that was never built.

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Jeff Greene

Billionaire Senate Hopeful Brings Colorful Past To Florida Race

Justin Elliott | May 3, 2010, 11:53AM

Jeff Greene

The latest entrant in the Florida Senate race is an eccentric billionaire who counts Mike Tyson and madam Heidi Fleiss as close friends and made his fortune betting against the real estate market before the crash.

The business and personal life of Jeff Greene is providing an embarrassment of riches for oppo researchers working for Greene's competition in the Democratic primary, Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL).

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Florida Republican Party

Crist Switch Puts GOP Spending Scandals At Center Of Florida Race

Justin Elliott | April 29, 2010, 9:09AM

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio

With the expected news that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is opting to run for Senate as an independent, the general election is set to have two major candidates -- Crist and presumptive GOP nominee Marco Rubio -- tarred by the wide-ranging spending scandal that is rocking the state Republican Party.

The scandal -- in which GOP officials are accused of spending party money on lavish personal expenses along with other financial malfeasance -- is tailor-made for attacks ads come the general election season, which is shaping up to be a three-way contest among Crist, Rubio, and likely Democratic nominee Rep. Kendrick Meek.

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Florida Republican Party

Report: Feds Eyeing Crist Role In Probe Of Florida GOP Spending

Justin Elliott | April 22, 2010, 10:05AM

Florida Governor Charlie Crist (R)

Earlier this week we learned that federal authorities are investigating Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio. Now, the St. Petersburg Times reports that investigators are interested in the role of Rubio's opponent, Gov. Charlie Crist, in the seemingly ever-expanding scandal over lavish spending at the state GOP.

The paper, which has been on a roll with this story, talked to a GOP fundraiser named Al Hoffman, who says he was interview by the FBI last month:

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Jim Greer

Florida GOP Gone Wild: Donor Money Used As Slush Fund?

Justin Elliott | April 1, 2010, 1:25PM

Former Florida Republican Party Chair Jim Greer and former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Over the past year, we've seen example after example of Florida GOP leaders using party credit cards for lavish personal spending -- from an $839 Starbucks bill to a $134 haircut and, now, a new allegation that the party chair used official funds to enrich himself.

Yesterday, we passed along the news that former FL GOP chair Jim Greer is under criminal investigation for allegedly awarding himself a lucrative party fundraising contract.

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Common Sense Issues

Push Poll Group Returns: Says Senator Supports 'Health Care For Homosexuals'

Zachary Roth | April 1, 2010, 10:13AM

Republican senate candidate Mike Lee of Utah

They're baaaaaack!

Long-time readers may remember Common Sense Issues, a group that gained brief notoriety during the 2008 GOP presidential primary for launching a massive barrage of push poll calls in support of Mike Huckabee. One typical call claimed that John McCain supported "experiments on unborn babies."

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Jim Greer

FL GOP: Our Former Chair Is Under Criminal Investigation

Zachary Roth | March 31, 2010, 2:07PM

Former Florida Republican Party Chair Jim Greer

The former chair of the Florida GOP -- a close ally of Gov. Charlie Crist -- is said to be under criminal investigation for a contract worth around $200,000 that he awarded to himself and his executive director. The news was revealed today by the state party, which says it uncovered the contract in the course of its annual financial audit, and referred the matter to authorities.

Jim Greer was appointed to run the state GOP by Crist in 2007, but was forced out of the job in January, after reports of lavish party spending, much of which went on the credit card of the party's executive director, Delmar Johnson.

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Republican Majority Campaign

In It For The Money? Conservative PAC Spends Big, But Not On Candidates

Justin Elliott | March 17, 2010, 1:00PM

Gary Kreep

A California-based PAC called the Republican Majority Campaign spent nearly all of the $1.7 million it raked in from conservative donors last year, but less than 2% of the money went to supporting candidates or independent political spending.

The rest of the money raised by the group went to operating expenses, salaries for the PAC's top officers, and back into fundraising appeals -- which often ask supporters for as much as $144 in exchange for sending faxes opposing health care reform to members of Congress.

The lion's share -- roughly $1.3 million -- of the group's 2009 fundraising haul went to a murky Arizona telemarketing firm that goes under the name Political Advertising, which has been linked to questionable PAC activities in the past. Its business type in the state's registry is given as "telephone fundraising."

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Marco Rubio

Report: Rubio Failed To Disclose $34,000 In PAC Expenses

Zachary Roth | March 15, 2010, 6:06PM

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL)

Marco Rubio has led a pretty charmed life lately, as he's vaulted past Gov. Charlie Crist to take a commanding lead in the race for the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.

But that could be ending. Last week, the Miami Herald reported that Rubio had charged computer supplies, groceries, and products from a music equipment store and a wine store, among other items, to the Florida GOP. And over the weekend, the St. Petersburg Times added to the picture, with a detailed look at the finances of the various political action committees that Rubio set up over the last decade, as he charted a course from little-known local pol to Speaker of the Florida House.

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Marco Rubio

Is Rubio Leak Political Payback?

Zachary Roth | February 25, 2010, 11:05AM

Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL)

Leaked documents showing that Marco Rubio charged computer supplies, groceries, and products from a music equipment store and a wine store, among other items, to the Florida GOP may represent the first major bump in the road for the U.S. Senate candidate and conservative darling. But was the leak an act of political payback?

In a letter to the state party chair, Rubio accused former party chair Jim Greer -- a close ally of Rubio's rival, Gov. Charlie Crist -- of being behind the leak. "It is clear these internal documents were taken from the RPOF by former Chairman Jim Greer, or someone working for him, and were leaked to the media by the Crist Campaign," Rubio wrote, calling the leak, "an appalling act of political desperation."

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NRCC

'Nancy Pelosi' Sends Out Fundraising Email For GOP

Zachary Roth | February 18, 2010, 9:16AM

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

A fundraising email sent yesterday by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) appeared under the name "Nancy Pelosi," and was addressed to "Dear Naive Republican."

No, the Speaker hasn't switched parties. Rather, the email, obtained by TPMmuckraker, seems to have been a crude stab at satire by the NRCC, designed to highlight what the committee sees as the failure of the stimulus plan.

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Tea Party Nation

Florida Duo Claiming Rights To Tea Party Name Have History Of Alleged Political Dirty Tricks

Zachary Roth | January 15, 2010, 10:40AM

Tea Party protesters (inset: Doug Guetzloe)

The two-man team of Florida political activists who are claiming the rights to the "Tea Party" name have been accused in the past of engaging in political trickery for profit, including allegedly pressing opposing candidates to pay for the endorsement of their candidate.

In August, Orlando lawyer Fred O'Neal registered the "Tea Party of Florida" (TPOF) as an official political party. Since then, as we reported yesterday, he and his close ally, GOP political consultant Doug Guetzloe, have asserted rights to the Tea Party name, and tried to strong-arm some local groups to drop the well-known moniker.

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Scott Rothstein

GOP Govs Group Got Whopping $200,000 From Accused Fraudster

Justin Elliott | November 17, 2009, 9:56AM

Scott Rothstein (inset)

The Republican Governors Association got a $200,000 donation last year from Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein, who is being accused of a fraud worth as much as $1 billion. The RGA did not respond to requests for comment about the contribution, and it's not known whether the money has, or will be, returned.

Rothstein was until his fall a top donor and fundraiser for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now locked in a hotly contested U.S. Senate primary with conservative Marco Rubio.

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Scott Rothstein

FBI: Accused Fraudster's Scheme Could Exceed $1 Billion

Justin Elliott | November 12, 2009, 2:47PM

Scott Rothstein

Estimates of the size of the investment scheme allegedly carried out by politically connected Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein have now soared to $1 billion, up from $500 million, which was up from $100 million. Meanwhile, Rothstein is still free and was even taped Monday having a lunchtime cocktail at Fort Lauderdale's Capital Grille.

Civil charges were brought in the case Monday by the IRS and authorities have seized his 87-foot yacht and several sports cars, but Rothstein, who was a top moneyman for Gov. Charlie Crist known for his expensive tastes, has not been charged criminally.

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Alan Mendelsohn

Mendelsohn Hosted "Marco Rubio U.S. Senate Kickoff"

Zachary Roth | September 30, 2009, 1:00PM

Alan Mendelsohn

It's not just Charlie Crist who has ties to indicted Florida fundraiser and lobbyist Alan Mendelsohn.

In March, the Miami Herald reported (via Nexis):

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