From right to left: Crist, Rothstein, Wayne Huizenga at the 2008 Governor's Bowl with Charlie Crist at Dolphin Stadium. (blacktie-southflorida.com)

Interview with Gov. Crist about Scott Rothstein. Note: Audio was edited to remove unrelated questions and some confusion during an elevator malfunction.

Graphic: Tainted Crist donors, fundraisers

Graphic: Rothstein: A lavish life in the fast lane

TALLAHASSEE — Republican Gov. Charlie Crist attempted Wednesday to distance himself from a Fort Lauderdale attorney accused of raiding and swindling his way to what could be a $500 million payday.

Crist also denied any problems for his U.S. Senate campaign after Scott Rothstein became his third major political fundraiser entangled in scandal in the past year.

“I don’t think it will affect it at all,” Crist said. “Because I’ve done nothing wrong.”

But three fund-raisers involved in corruption allegations will give Crist’s political opponents an easy target, said Lynn University political science professor Robert Watson.

“If it was a coincidence before, it looks like a pattern now,” said Watson, a Democratic U.S. House candidate in 2005.

Rest of the story here.

Background: Why we care about Scott Rothstein

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A federal indictment released this week claims Gov. Charlie Crist received 10 illegal campaign contributions of $500 each from these 5 homes in Southern California in 2006.

But campaign finance records show that Crist received a total of 40 $500 contributions on the same day from nearby neighborhoods, as shown in the map below.

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Crist said he won’t return any contributions because his campaign, which collected $2.5 million in 2006, has closed.

But there is precedent for “returning” money years later.

In 1998, then-state Sen. Katherine Harris was running for Secretary of State and sent $20,293 of her own money to the Florida Election Commission. She did so after a controversy erupted over donations she received in 1994 from Riscorp, whose founder was imprisoned in an elections scandal.

Read the story here.