Reeling from a criminal probe into the Florida GOP's finances, Republican leaders finally got a peek Wednesday at the spending habits of the man at the center of the long-running scandal: Jim Greer.
The ousted party chairman charged nearly $500,000 to his American Express card to eat well and live well: spa treatments, flowers, flights, fine hotels and pricey restaurants. In a month ending in March 2008, he spent $41,421.31 in Las Vegas, Washington and Beverly Hills, according to billing statements obtained Wednesday by The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times.
Greer's spending is just a sliver of the $7 million charged on party AmEx cards between late 2006 and 2009. The Herald/Times on Wednesday also obtained the statements of Senate President Jeff Atwater, who charged $44,116, and former party executive director Jim Rimes, who has charged the most to date: more than $2 million.
Board members of the scandal-rocked state GOP are scheduled to meet behind closed doors Friday, where they will likely discuss not only the ongoing IRS and federal criminal investigations but also whether to release the credit card statements of all party leaders and staffers. Board members this week received only Greer's statements.
Gov. Charlie Crist never had a credit card, but he's not free from the controversy. FBI agents have asked about the Crist campaign, said Republican fundraiser Al Hoffman.
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