The sigh audible across most of the lower-48 is animated by
relief on the part of Florida Republicans that former Republican
Party of Florida (RPOF) chairman Jim Greer has pled guilty to four
counts of grand theft and one count of money laundering.
Greer pled Monday morning, just before jury selection in his
trial was to have begun, a trial Florida Republicans feared would
have been a circus at their expense. Florida’s “trial of the
century,” at which countless high Florida Republican officials
could have been called to testify, turned out to be just the news
of Monday morning. And, considering events out of the Vatican, not
even the lead story.
Not only had Greer insisted since he was charged that he was
innocent and would fight the charges against him, but he promised
he would implicate every Florida Republican above the rank of major
in misfeasance, malfeasance, thievery, moral turpitude, public
hibotchery, and illegally taking the labels off of mattresses.
Greer got a bit carried away last week in talking with the
Miami New Times when he said the trial was “going to be a
Shakespearean play where everyone dies in the end.” (Greer may have
thought himself Hamlet-like. But he looks and, save for his
plentiful lack of wit, behaves more like Falstaff.)
Monday morning Greer had his hyperbole under control. In a fine
impersonation of the late Gilda Radner’s Emily Litella, Greer said
“never mind,” and pleaded guilty.
Since Greer was charged in 2010 with six counts of fraud and
money laundering, journalists have flocked to him like ants to a
picnic. The attraction, for a guy not considered very newsworthy
until he was indicted, was that he could always be counted on to
accuse prominent Republicans of being heartless and larcenous
low-lifes, up to their necks in high crimes and misdemeanors.
You can see the appeal. This accounts for the fact that, after
the plea, relief among Florida Republicans is only equaled by
disappointment among journalists, eager to flog Republicans over
the two weeks Greer’s trial was expected to take. My sources report
there was open sobbing Monday in newsrooms across the
peninsula.
A little background: Jim Greer, now 50, was plucked out of the
relative obscurity of the Oviedo City Council (a suburb of Orlando
— population 33K and change) to help in Charlie Crist’s 2006 run
for governor. Crist, who was then a Republican but has since done a
hitch as an independent before becoming a Democrat, won that race
and insisted that his friend Jim be appointed chairman of the
Republican Party of Florida. The party’s board went along with the
gag.
Greer, an unassuming man with much to be unassuming about, did
little for the party while he was chairman beyond, prosecutors
allege and Greer now confirms with his plea, setting up a creative
way to siphon off $200K in donations to the RPOF into a fundraising
company controlled by Greer. Of this amount, $125K wound up in
Greer’s personal account, prosecutors say. Thus the
indictments.
Greer and his attorneys have insisted that everything Greer did
was legal and was done with the knowledge and approval of RPOF
officials and Republican office holders, including Crist. Crist
denies this, saying he was shocked, shocked that Greer was taking
his cut from what Florida Republicans were donating to help elect
Florida Republicans.
By the way, Crist swore to this last under oath. A later
deposition by a lobbyist and major Republican fund-raiser
contradicts Crist’s sworn statement. So our Charlie, who,
remarkably, wants to run for governor again in 2014, may have some
’splainin’ to do. This may not be insurmountable for Crist, who in
his one term of governor did no more for the state than Greer did
for the party as chairman. Explaining away the improbable, which
he’s often at the center of, seems to be Crist’s only talent.
Greer did not get a deal in return for his pleas. Sentencing
guidelines for what Greer pled to call for from three and a half to
35 years in prison. But under Florida law, the judge is not obliged
to follow the guidelines. After the plea, prosecutors said they
have not decided what sentence they will ask for. Sentencing is set
for March 27.
The high crimes Greer was prepared to accuse his accusers of
range from the old and discredited — including alleged misuse of
an RPOF credit card by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a charge a
forensic audit has cleared Rubio of — to more fanciful stuff. A
colorful and highly speculative story making media rounds over the
past week or so concerned a trip party officials and high-rollers
took to the Bahamas where, in addition to luxurious accommodations
and dining, there was supposedly a walk-on by some Bahamian ladies
of negotiable virtue.
There were other accusations from Greer, but you get the tone.
Republican officials say these stories are the product of an
accused man’s survival imagination. They probably are. Greer has
been saying he would expose a “culture of corruption” in the
Florida Republican Party. So far the only corruption that has been
made official is his.
