Mail is piling up at the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler office in Tallahassee.

By Michael C. Bender and Dara Kam
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau

Embattled Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein opened up a Tallahassee office shortly after Republican Charlie Crist won the governor’s office. But there’s no one at the office these days and it appears there hasn’t been for a while — a FedEx note from Sept. 29 is hanging on the door knob.

Meanwhile, the firm’s Capital City operation provides another link between Crist and Rothstein, and could further call into question Crist’s claim that the two had little relationship beyond Rothstein’s support of Crist’s campaigns.

The Tallahassee office was run by Grant Smith, son of former U.S. Rep. Larry Smith, D-Hollywood, and Cheryl Seinfeld.

Seinfeld was the Republican Party of Florida’s finance director from October 2006 to July 2008, when she was terminated after the office was restructured, a party spokeswoman said. Party records show Seinfeld worked there as early as September 2005.

She was hired by Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler within days of leaving the state party, according to her profile on LinkedIn.com.

Seinfeld, meanwhile, also worked on Crist’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign and “Yes on 1 - Save Our Homes NOW,” Crist’s 2008 campaign for a property tax constitutional amendment, according to campaign finance records.

Prior to her work with the state party, she worked for former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fort Pierce, and former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn.

And just in case you were wondering, here’s a list of clients the Rothstein firm was lobbying Crist and/or state lawmakers during the past two years:

Committee on Critical Challenges, Inc. of Miami; Community Capital Management, Inc. of Weston; Dan Marino Foundation, Inc. of Weston; Edify, LLC of Fort Lauderdale; Littlefield Corp. of Austin, Texas; Morse Automotive Group of Fort Lauderdale; South Central Florida Express, Inc. of Clewiston; South Florida Regional Transportation Authority of Pompano Beach; Southern Gardens Citrus Holding Corp. of Clewiston; U.S. Sugar Corp. of Clewiston.

Here’s a quick thumbnail on the companies that aren’t so obvious:

The Committee on Critical Challenges bankrolled a petition drive to allow for Las Vegas-style casinos in Miami. One of men leading that petition drive — Boca Raton businessman Art Falcone — hosted a fundraiser in Aspen, Colorado this summer for Crist’s U.S. Senate campaign.

Community Capital Management, formerly CRAFund Advisors, invests in government related sub-sectors of the bond market, according to its Web site. The company’s “primary goal” is to find above-average investments that produce a “positive impact on the community and the environment.”

Edify is a health benefits consulting company in Fort Lauderdale that includes Rothstein among its board members. State Rep. Even Jenne, D-Dania Beach, works for the company through his Blue Banyan consulting firm. Edify has donated $24,000 to the Republican Party of Florida since 2006, $5,000 to state legislative candidates including South Florida Republicans Adam Hasner and Ellyn Bogdanoff, and $1,000 to Charlie Crist’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

Littlefield Corp. operates through its two subsidiaries: Little Entertainment, a group of 37 charitable bingo businesses, including one in Florida; and Littlefield Real Estate, which owns shopping centers in South Carolina and Texas.

Tags: Charlie Crist, Scott Rothstein

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