By KATHLEEN HAUGHNEY
The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Attorneys for former state House Speaker Ray Sansom tried today to dismiss charges that the Destin Republican broke the law when he steered millions of dollars to Northwest Florida State College and appeared to benefit from the process.

Sansom, Okaloosa County developer Jay Odom and former college President Bob Richburg have been indicted on official misconduct charges. Sansom and Richburg each face an additional perjury charge for allegedly lying to a Leon County grand jury. They are scheduled to stand trial at the end of this month.

The case hinges on Sansom’s power as budget chairman in 2007-08 to steer millions of dollars to the college.
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A criminal investigation of former state House Speaker Ray Sansom has recovered e-mails that a state college failed to release as part of a public record requests from The Palm Beach Post.

The e-mails were among nearly two dozen that Northwest Florida State College officials recently turned over to Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs but failed to release to media outlets that requested the same documents. In November, The Post asked the college to provide all communications between Richburg and Sansom from 2007 and 2008.

Similarly, The Post reported last week that Meggs’ case file includes e-mails to and from Sansom that House officials insisted did not exist.

More here.

A criminal investigation of former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom, recently indicted on charges of falsifying the state budget, has turned up e-mails related to the scandal that supposedly did not exist when The Palm Beach Post requested the documents from the legislature.¹

The Post asked Sansom’s office Dec. 10 to turn over the previous 20 days of e-mails that the Destin Republican had either sent and received. The request was made to gauge public reaction to news that Sansom may have received a six-figure job from Northwest Florida State College in exchange for funneling millions of state dollars to the school.

The Post also sought messages between Sansom and then-college President James “Bob” Richburg about the scandal.

The House responded with documents that showed Sansom neither sent nor received a single e-mail for 11 days.

But that is not true, prosecutors’ files show. Documents found by Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs reveal several e-mails from that time, including a conversation among Sansom, Sansom’s communication director and Richburg, who was fired for his involvement in the controversy.²

“We need to be concerned about this,” said Barbara Petersen, president of the Florida First Amendment Foundation, when told about the discovered e-mails. “I’m almost speechless when I see what the legislature is doing and how they’re doing it.”³

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1. The Palm Beach Post, 04/18/09: Ex-House speaker’s indictment blasts secret budget deals
2. Click here for the e-mails included in Meggs’ case file, but not in a public records request made to the House.
3. Petersen was chairwoman of Gov. Charlie Crist’s Commission on Open Records Reform. The panel issued a report in January that determined the legislature has rules for itself that may be inconsistent with state public records laws.

Special investigator D. Stephen Kahn released his investigation of former House Speaker Ray Sansom today, deciding that the Destin Republican’s budget dealings and his relationship with Northwest Florida State College left probable cause for the public to “lose faith” in the integrity of the Florida House.

The report means a special committee of House lawmakers will convene to review the findings and decide on a punishment.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, announced that panel will include Rules Chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton; Faye Culp, R-Tampa; Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City; Joe Gibbons, D-Hallandale Beach, and Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs.

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