It is hard to miss the attack ads in the governor’s race. Former Governor Charlie Crist is running against incumbent Rick Scott in this November’s general election. Both sides are using TV ads to the other’s credibility.
Most recently, you may have seen ads tying both candidates to the same convicted Ponzi schemer, Scott Rothstein.
An ad by the Crist campaign claims:
“Now he’s teamed up with a felon convicted of running a Ponzi scheme to smear Charlie Crist with false attacks.”
PolitiFact Florida rated the claim for its truthfulness. Writer Linda Qiu said the claim rates FALSE. According to Qiu, the timeline just doesn’t match up.
“By the time this man was arrested in December of 2009, Scott hadn't even entered the governor's race,” Qiu said. “He entered the governor's race five months later in April 2010.”
There is one link between Scott and Rothstein. It’s an ad that the Republican Party of Florida produced attacking Crist for his connections to Rothstein. PolitiFact rated that ad half true.
But the Crist ad uses the phrase “teaming up”, which implies Scott and Rothstein worked together at some point. Because there is no evidence that the paid crossed paths, PolitiFact rated the claim as FALSE.
SOURCES: SCOTT ROTHSTEIN APPEARS IN ANOTHER CAMPAIGN AD
- PolitiFact's rating
- Charlie Crist campaign, "Smears" TV ad, Aug. 17, 2014
- Tampa Bay Times, "Governor Rick Scott finalizes deal to sell holdings in urgent care chain Solantic,"April 13, 2011
- PolitiFact, "Republican ad says Scott Rothstein bought Charlie Crist’s judicial appointments," Aug. 25, 2014
- Interview, Brendan Gilfillan, spokesman for Charlie Crist’s campaign, Aug. 27, 2014
- Republican Party of Florida, "For sale" TV ad, Aug. 18, 2014
- U.S. Court District of Florida, Scott Rothstein transcript in the Christina Kitterman trial, February 2014
- Florida Division of Elections, State campaign finance records, 2006-2009
- Federal Election Commission, Campaign finance records, 2006-2009
- Center for Responsive Politics, Charlie Crist Top 100 Contributors, 2009-10
- Gov. Rick Scott, Judicial Nominating Commission, Accessed Aug. 21, 2014
- Palm Beach Post, "Ponzi schemer Rothstein: wooing politicians, including Crist and McCain, key to success," Feb. 5, 2014
- CBS4, "Scott Rothstein wraps up testimony in trial of former employee," Feb. 6, 2014
- Broward/Palm Beach New Times The Daily Pulp blog, "Rothstein’s castle (and throne)," Nov. 19, 2009
- Broward/Palm Beach New Times, "Rothstein dealings with Broward health raise questions about judicial appointment," Nov. 18, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Rothstein auction of exotic cars and luxury yachts live," June 2010
- Browardbeat.com, "Rothstein hires two defeated judges, but one got away," Jan. 4, 2009
- Miami Herald, "Ponzi schemer Rothstein’s former partner pleads guilty in Miami," June 11, 2014
- Miami Herald, "Rothstein describes the inner workings of his swindle," Feb. 5, 2014
- Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, "Photo: the 52k Ponzi cake for Charlie Crist’s B’day," Nov. 6, 2009
- Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, "Florida Supreme Court disbars Scott Rothstein," Nov. 25, 2009
- Miami Herald, "Lawyer Scott Rothstein: The rise and fall of a wheeler dealer," Accessed in Nexis, Nov. 8., 2009
- Miami Herald, "Rothstein `fraud' funded campaign donations," Dec. 2, 2009
- Miami Herald editorial board, "Herald recommends Broward County Circuit court," Accessed in Nexis, Aug. 13, 2010
- Tampa Bay Times, "FSU frat brothers giving Crist a fundraising boost," Accessed in Nexis, July 23, 2006
- Tampa Bay Times The Buzz blog, "Weeks later, Crist boots Rothstein from judicial commish," Nov. 24, 2009
- Tampa Bay Times The Buzz blog, "Maurice Ferre calls for Crist/Rothstein investigation," Dec. 1, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Key dates and data in the life and career of attorney Scott Rothstein," Accessed in Nexis, Nov. 9, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Inside the world of Scott Rothstein,"Accessed Aug. 21, 2014
- Sun-Sentinel, Database: Scott Rothstein’s political donations, 2006-09
- Sun-Sentinel, "Crist taps pair for judgeships," Jan. 29, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Crist had ‘no reason’ to suspect Rothstein," Dec. 18, 2009
- Sun-Sentinel, "Rothstein said ex-employee Kitterman was ‘in the game," Feb. 6, 2014
- Sun-Sentinel, "The laws of diversity: minorities underrepresented in polarized Broward judiciary," Accessed in Nexis, Nov. 9, 2008
- Sun-Sentinel," 20 candidates vying for county court seats," Accessed in Nexis, Aug. 7, 2010
- Shark Tank blog, "Charlie Crist discusses GOP ad attacking his past friendship with Ponzi-schemer,"Aug. 20, 2014