Perry Joins Ranks of RGA Chairs Proving Liability for GOP Governors

The federal investigation into RGA Chair Chris Christie’s abuse of power in New Jersey has been proving a liability for Republican governors across the country, particularly those with high-profile ethical and legal challenges of their own. Today, the report that former RGA Chair Rick Perry is lawyering up for his own criminal investigation ensures that yet another Republican surrogate will travel the country highlighting the ethical lapses of Republican governors like Scott Walker, Rick Scott, and Nathan Deal.
Like Christie, Perry fancies himself a perfect spokesman for Republican governors. Now that their rhetoric of “reform” has been exposed as fraudulent, we couldn’t agree more, and look forward to seeing him out on the trail for these scandal-scarred governors:
Governor Scott Walker
Gov. Walker On Hot Seat After Emails Show Illegal Dealing By Aides. “Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is facing fresh scrutiny after thousands of previously sealed documents were released that suggest some of Walker’s top aides when he was Milwaukee County Executive illegally coordinated with campaign staffers during his 2010 gubernatorial election.” [ABC News, 2/20/14]
Governor Rick Scott
Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s 2012 voter purge violated federal law, court rules. “Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration violated federal law by trying to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls too close to the 2012 presidential election, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday in calling the mistake-prone effort ‘far from perfect.’  The decision by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta invalidated efforts by the Department of State to identify and remove noncitizens from the voter rolls in advance of an election […]” [The Tampa Bay Times, 4/3/14]
Federal Investigators Found That Scott Took Part In Business Practices At Columbia/HCA Found To Be Illegal.  In June, 2010, The Miami Herald reported, “federal investigators found that Scott took part in business practices at Columbia/HCA that were later found to be illegal – specifically, that Scott and other executives offered financial incentives to doctors in exchange for patient referrals, in violation of federal law, according to lawsuits the Justice Department filed against the company in 2001.” [Miami Herald, 6/27/10]

• Columbia/HCA Paid $1.7 Billion In Settlement Fines Over Medicare Fraud, Scott Left Company Shortly After FBI Raid. “In the early part of the last decade Columbia/ HCA paid a total of $1.7 billion in fines to settle charges the chain defrauded Medicare and other government health programs. Scott, who wasn’t charged with any crimes, left the company in 1997 only days after the FBI raided its headquarters in Nashville and more than 30 of its hospitals.” [NPR, 11/3/10]

Governor Nathan Deal
Jury Rules in Favor of Ex-Ethics Chief; Awards $700,000 Judgment. “Stacey Kalberman was unfairly forced from office as retribution for investigating Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign, a Fulton County jury ruled Friday. The jury, after deliberating 2 1/2 hours ordered the state to pay the former ethics commission director $700,000… Kalberman’s attorneys worked all week to show that the commission’s decision in June 2011 to cut her salary by $35,000 and to eliminate Streicker’s job were a response to the pair’s desire to issue subpoenas for records in the investigation.” [Atlanta Journal Constitution, 4/4/14]
 

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