Jim Greer, the big-spending former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, was arrested Wednesday morning at his Central Florida home amid a widening probe of corruption connected to the state GOP.
The charges against Greer, 47, were not immediately announced, but the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it will hold an 11:30 a.m. news conference to discuss a "major arrest."
Greer, pressured to resign from the party in February, has been under FDLE investigation since spring after new party leaders discovered he was profiting from what they said was a clandestine consulting contract he struck with the party.
While Greer took shots from numerous rank-and-file Republicans, Gov. Charlie Crist stood firmly by him. Crist picked Greer to lead the party in 2007, despite the grumblings of numerous Republicans who didn't know Greer.
When asked if he could have done anything differently with Greer, Crist would only say this spring: "I didn't have a crystal ball. Neither did you."
Greer started to lose control of the party as Republican John McCain's presidential campaign floundered in the must-win state of Florida. As Crist's fortunes sank over the following months, so did Greer's.
Meantime, word of big-spending on party American Express cards bedeviled Republicans, leading Greer to cut his AmEx card to stem the criticism. Greer charged about $500,000 on his card -- a fraction of what other party officials rang up.
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