When it comes to ill-gotten gains, no one scatters faster than the recipients (or the perceived recipient of).
The Palm Beach Post (11/8/09):
(...)
Revelations that Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein's nearly $1.4 million in political contributions since 2006 - much of it landing in Tallahassee - might be tainted also chilled the marbled halls of the Capitol and its environs.
(...)The allegations that Rothstein had bilked investors and the law firm he founded out of as much as $500 million unfolded during a committee week in Tallahassee, just as the indictment against another political rainmaker, Broward County eye doctor Alan Mendelsohn, had a little more than a month before.
Both were generous fund-raisers not just for Gov. Charlie Crist but for politicians of all stripes, as they coughed up cash for campaigns and charities.
Lobbyists, lawmakers and staffers were glued to their BlackBerrys monitoring blog posts as the Rothstein drama unfolded from Monday throughout the week. Developments in the saga dominated chatter in the hangouts surrounding the 22-story Capitol. By late Wednesday, the clientele at the popular watering hole Clyde's and Costello's was whispering about an FBI raid on the offices of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler even as it was going down hundreds of miles away in Fort Lauderdale.
For some, it held the same morbid appeal of watching a train wreck. For others, it posed a more ominous threat.
Flynn observed that some were thinking this "could be happening to me. You never know where these things go."
You never know where these things go.
And with the feds on the money trail, all bets are off. Additionally, with so many ties to South Florida, I'm very interested in what the Palm Beach Post describes as entities.
Those on the hot seat of explaining to do....
(...)Research more contributions here.South Florida Republicans whose campaigns received money from Rothstein or entities associated with him include Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach, Sen. Joe Negron of Stuart, House Majority Leader Adam Hasner of Boca Raton, and Reps. Ellyn Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale, Juan Zapata of Miami and Carlos Lopez-Cantera of Miami, according to state records. (U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Lakeland was mentioned previously in the above cited article).
Rothstein also gave to Democrats, including Sens. Ted Deutch of Boca Raton, Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, Jeremy Ring of Margate and Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale, along with House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands of Weston and Reps. Martin Kiar of Davie and Evan Jenne of Dania Beach. Jenne's father, disgraced Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, took a job with the lobbying arm of Rothstein's law firm after he was released from prison last year.
Bob Norman of The Daily Pulp posted his September brush with Mr. Rothstein a couple months back. A brief skim of the interlude fairly sums up why Florida's been caught up in a strangle hold all these years. Read Scott Rothstein Calls Himself "Jewish Avenger," Out to Destroy the Pulp here.
