Scott refuses to answer for skirting finance laws, hiding his conflicts

Rick Scott has “not offered meaningful disclosure about how he became $46 million richer while governor,” according to a Thursday report from Florida Politics. Meanwhile, retired workers criticized Scott in front of the Capitol for “a very clear case of close coordination and circumvention of the pay to play rule” for accepting questionable contributions from executives at firms that received state pension business, WCJB reported.

Scott dismissed questions about him refusing to release the details of his secret financial account, therefore hiding his conflicts of interest from Floridians, and about two executives from investment firms contributing more than $50,000 to Scott’s political committee after he directed lucrative state pension business to their firms.

The reports follow Scott requesting an extension this week to allow him to continue hiding his secret financial account, which violates federal disclosure requirements, and happened as retired workers blasted Scott forplaying politics with their pension.

Florida Democratic Party spokesman Sebastian Kitchen: “Rick Scott’s campaign is plagued with financial scandals, with new revelations almost daily, and he refuses to answer serious questions about his shady financial dealings. Rick Scott will say and do anything to get elected, including hide his conflicts of interest and play politics with the pensions of state workers, and the people of Florida deserve better than his self-serving politics.”

Key points from the WCJB ABC 20 report:

• “Opponents are criticizing Governor Scott for accepting contributions from groups that were given contracts to help manage the state pension system. The companies received a total of $250 million of new investment commitments.”
• “Critics say the governor’s campaign for Senate received more than $50,000 from the private equity executives.”
• “This appears to be a very clear case of close coordination and circumvention of the pay to play rule. So, it may not have garnered a lot of attention right now, but we want to shed a spotlight on what Rick Scott is doing,” said retired state worker David Jacobsen.

Key points from the Florida Politics report:

• “In Jacksonville Thursday, Gov. Rick Scott fielded questions about his Senate campaign financing, which is still under scrutiny by political opponents.”
• “The first: a report from Capital and Main asserted that donations to Scott’s ‘New Republican’ Super PAC by two company CEOs after business from the state pension fund went to their firms amounted to ‘pay to play’ and a contravention of federal anti-corruption rules.”
• “While that move is legal, Scott’s finances have been questioned repeatedly by political opponents, and Scott had not offered meaningful disclosure about how he became $46 million richer while governor, saying that such was only a concern of ‘career politicians.'”

The first three weeks of Rick Scott’s campaign have been plagued with repeated financial issues including: the campaign finance watchdog group End Citizens United has filed two FEC complaints detailing how he illegally coordinated with his Super PAC; and Scott’s repeatedly ignored questions on the campaign trail about disclosing his assets. Scott is also facing an ongoing state lawsuit over his refusal to disclose his secret account.
The Florida Democratic Party launched this digital clock to track how long Scott has been in the race while hiding his finances.

More information about Scott’s financial scandals is available at SelfServingScott.com.