Well, well, well ... it was only a matter of time before Governor PBJ came into contact with some shady characters on the fundraising trail, since he spends oh, so much time traveling outta the Gret Stet, as you can see to the right.
If y'all click on the picture (or here), you'll see the yeoman's work that conservative blogger CB at The Old River Road has been doing with respect to tracking Governor PBJ's multiple out of state jaunts to keep his national profile up for a '12 or '16 bid for the White House, while ostensibly raising campaign cash for his re-election campaign in '11.
Some background from that TPM Muckraker report linked to above:
One of the co-chairs of the October 2008 reception was none other than Scott Rothstein, then a prominent Fort Lauderdale attorney, now accused of a fraud worth $1 billion.
He contributed the maximum $5,000 to Jindal, and his firm, Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler ponied up another $5,000, according to Louisiana campaign finance records. Jindal, a potential GOP presidential hopeful, is the latest addition to a lengthy list of pols who hit up Rothstein for money.
Doesn't sound like much, does it? Of course, Governor PBJ never had his picture taken with the man, let alone meet him ... right? Wrong:
GOP operative Roger Stone, a former business associate of Rothstein's, tells TPMmuckraker he remembers Rothstein huddling with Jindal at the Republican Governors Association conference in Miami, held the month after the football game.
Maybe this Stone guy has an axe to grind. Well, then there is this: (emphasis added)
In the past few days alone, Rothstein had a nice chat with his friend John McCain ("He asked how all our local races went; that's the kind of guy he is"); did some business in New York; held a fundraiser in Miami for rising Republican star Bobby Jindal (the Louisiana governor who might run for president in 2012); spent a day screening judicial applicants for Florida's 4th District Court of Appeal; eulogized one of his best friends, who was killed in a motorcycle wreck; and searched for a liver for a friend who needs a transplant.
So, how 'bout it, Governor PBJ? You gonna return the money donated by Mr. Rothstein and his firm, as quite a few Florida politicians are doing?
UPDATE: The Governor's press flack, Kyle Plotkin, formerly of The Wanna Be's Senate campaign, and also the "liberal" former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, told TPM that the Governor will be giving the $10,000 he received from Mr. Rothstein and his company to the victim's compensation fund once one is created. |
