racked up about $173,000 on his Republican Party of Florida issued
American Express Card, spending liberally on trips to Europe, New York,
Disney and at restaurants as incongruous as Diva in SOHO to Po' Boys in
Tallahassee, according to records released today as part of the
criminal case against him.
The records show spending both lavish
($2,112 at the Apple Store in Manhattan) and prosaic ($24.34 at
Tropical Smoothie and $6.15 at Target.) Sansom, R-Destin, spent
thousands on flowers and electronics. On a single day in January 2008,
he spent $1,900 at Best Buy and charged more than $11,000 there overall.
In
December 2007, Sansom bought a $739 plane ticket for one of his
daughters to fly from LaGuardia Airport to Birmingham. In June 2008 he
bought more than $2,000 in plane tickets for the entire family. Then in
July, he charged thousands more on family travel to Europe, where he
dined at TGI Fridays, Noura Brasserie, Spaghetti House and Hard Rock
London.
The credit card statements — the outstanding balance
topped $20,000 at one point — are the first time in recent memory that
detailed spending by GOP officials has been made public, exposing what
has long been a source of curiosity and friction among top campaign
contributors concerned how their money is being spent.
“There are
an awful lot of people who are concerned how the party is spending
money,” said veteran Tallahassee lobbyist Ken Plante. “I don’t think
they’ll be very happy. It’s troubling.”
Sansom first got the card in 2006, two years before be was to be sworn
in as House speaker. He was directing the House campaign effort during
that period, but many of the purchases seem unrelated to that effort.
Sansom has been indicted on felony charges stemming from $6 million he
got for an airport building in Destin that records show was going to be
used by a developer friend, Jay Odom.
Odom,
who has also been charged along with college president Bob Richburg,
had given Republicans and a political committee controlled by Sansom
about $1 million.
The records obtained by State Attorney Willie
Meggs appear to be a way to link Odom's generosity with Sansom. Meggs
would not comment. The Times/Herald obtained the records through a
public records request.
As the Times/Herald previously reported,
Sansom used the AMEX to pay for a $597 dinner at the private FSU
University Club that was attended by the Northwest Florida State
College board of trustees and others — a meeting that raised questions
about the violation of the Sunshine Law.
But that was only a blip. Sansom used the card to pay for dinners, hotels, flowers and repeated trips to Starbucks.
The
records, of course, do not give the full context of whether Sansom was
entertaining donors or other guests as part of official RPOF business.
And surely a good portion is related to that work. But there are many
other instances that raise questions.
Just some of the CC charges, in no particular order:
- $348 for personal baby sitting services from Nanny Can in December 2006.
- $117 for a New Year's eve meal in 2006 at Jim & Nick's Bar-B-Q in San Destin
- $320 at Cole Haan in Destin in May 2008. $224 at Kenneth Cole in October 2007.
- $8,993 at Friendly Florist in Fort Walton Beach
- $1,386 for catalog merchandise from PhotoWorks in Seattle in February 2008.
- $69.50 for fabric and yarn at Jo Ann Fabrics in Fort Walton Beach in March 2007.
- $975 for tuxedo rentals in October 2008.
- $2,598 for jet fuel in Destin in January 2007.
- $222 at Harrods, a luxury store in London.
- $176 in "misc home furnish" from the Bombay Co. in Destin
RPOF chairman Jim Greer would not discuss Sansom’s spending
directly, but said he has taken steps in the last year to curb
excessive and dubious use of party AMEX cards.
“As chairman of
the party, all expenditures fall under my responsibility,” said Greer,
whose own spending has been questioned. “However any expenditures that
I have determined were inappropriate, I have taken steps to ensure they
do not happen in the future.”
He would not say whether some of Sansom’s spending was inappropriate or whether Sansom reimbursed the party.
“Credit
cards are issued to people that have a reason to have one, either for
fundraising or political purposes,” Greer said. “When they are issued
they are issued with a confidence of trust. When that trust is broken,
you revoke their ability to charge.”
Greer said he would not
voluntarily release other party credit card records. Said party
spokeswoman Katie Gordon, "We cannot comment further due to
confidentiality requirements."
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