Marco Rubio may have finally found an “A-List” he would rather not be a member of. In fact, he claims to have never even heard of this list! Selective amnesia, anyone?
The St. Petersburg Times has obtained an e-mail which made the rounds among judges on the Taj Mahal courthouse committee that calls Rubio a “hero” and “especially helpful” when it came to delivering the money to build the courthouse. That’s the Tallahassee courthouse that was built with millions in funds from the State Workers Compensation Trust Fund that provided things like 60 inch flat screen televisions, private kitchens with granite countertops, private bathrooms and chambers paneled with mahogany for each judge. To the tune of $48 million. This at the same time that budgets were being cut and workers were laid off.
Rubio has claimed to know little about it, contrary to what his former appropriations chairman Ray Sansom says. Sansom is criminally charged with grand theft on another unrelated appropriations case.
A grand jury in Leon County will be looking into the courthouse funding when it meets in late September.
Also noticeable on the list are several other members of the Republican Party Of Florida who found themselves completely in the clear in their audit of their own party’s spending, but did find fault with former member Charlie Crist and Jim Greer. The audit was done by the company that audited Enron. Those who made the “Heroes” and “Especially Helpful” list, from the Times article:
The heroes list
The building committee of the 1st District Court of Appeal circulated an e-mail in 2008 that identified the “heroes” behind the new courthouse and lauded the few who were “especially helpful.” Here is the list, without the names of six Senate and 10 House staffers:
“Especially helpful”
House Speaker Marco Rubio
Sen. Victor Crist
Rep. Marti Coley
Rep. Ron Reagan
“Other Heroes”
Senate President Ken Pruitt
Sen. Alex Villalobos
Sen. J.D. Alexander
Sen. Lisa Carlton
Rep. Ray Sansom
Rep. Dennis Ross
Rep. Dean Cannon
Rep. Will Weatherford
Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp
FSU President T.K. Wetherell
Lobbyist Stephen W. Metz
Lobbyist Peter M. Dunbar
Lobbyist John E. Thrasher (since elected to the Senate)
You can read the full St. Petersburg Times article here.
[...] zero to hero, and back [...]
[...] of his Republican Party credit card is one example, which the IRS is investigating. How about that “Taj Mahal“ courthouse in Tallahassee he helped secure funding [...]
[...] As you’ll recall, Rubio made the secret “hero’s list” in an e-mail for securing funds to build the monstrosity of a courthouse. Rubio claims to suffer from a bit of amnesia on the subject. For those of you not familiar with this particular Rubio scandal, here’s a bit of a refresher: [...]
[...] it from the hero of the Taj Mahal, those who make back room deals, like Rubio, ARE indeed what’s wrong with American politics [...]