Charlie Crist vs Jim Greer...Will be a duzy
Former Gov. Charlie Crist says Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer tried to extort him in 2011
The message to former Gov. Charlie Crist from good friend and confidante Jim Greer was ominous-sounding:
“Listen, I just wanted to call and tell you something as a man, not like these other people that have put knives in your back and never had the courtesy to call you directly or talk to you.”
Just about a year after Greer was indicted on felony charges of organized fraud, theft and money laundering, Crist found the voicemail and a text message on his cell phone from the former chair of the Republican Party of Florida.
To Crist, it sounded like Greer was attempting to extort money from him and he called the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to report the messages.
“Hey governor, it’s Jim,’’ the June 2011 voice message from Greer began. “I’m sure you know our friendship has ended, is over, and I’m just very saddened by that. But I wanted you to know personally from me, that in the future there’s probably going to be things coming out that are going to be very hurtful to both you and Carole (Crist’s wife). But I’ll be honest with you, I don’t care anymore because I did everything that I could for you. I paid every bill you and Carole ever gave me. I defended every decision you ever made. I almost got in a fist fight the times when people said personal, terrible things about you.”
Greer went on to tell Crist that he was about to lose his house, could no longer afford to pay for insurance for his children, including one named for Crist, and how he resented the fact that no one, including Crist, “has lifted a finger to try and help me.’’
The voicemail and text message — “I gave everything for you and your political future” — are now evidence in Greer’s criminal trial, scheduled to begin July 30 in Orlando. Details of the messages and an interview FDLE agents conducted with Crist afterward were disclosed recently among hundreds of pages of documents turned over to Greer’s attorneys by Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Michael Williams. Greer is accused of taking money from the GOP through a secret company used to funnel almost $200,000 to himself and a subordinate.
Crist reported the calls to FDLE a day after the messages were left. Investigators and prosecutors interviewed Crist in Tampa a month later. Crist told them he spoke with Greer from time to time but the messages “came from out of the blue.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/16/2802568/former-gov-charlie-crist-says.html#storylink=cpy
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