Mitt Romney had binders full of women. The Florida GOP might have had golf carts full of hookers.
Rumors of a strange "men's only" trip to the Bahamas, meant as a thank you to some of the Republican Party of Florida's biggest donors, have been swirling for years, but new details have come out in testimony in the trial of Jim Greer, the former RPOF chair.
Greer is currently on trial on charges that he embezzled more than $100,000 of party money to a shell company that he owned. Testimony in the case has been nothing but embarrassing for the RPOF, but allegations from the testimony of Delmar Johnson, a GOP official may be the most bombastic yet.
Rumors of the Bahamas trip, held in 2008 or 2009, first surfaced a couple years ago at the start of the Greer trial. Former party finance director Megan O'Rourke told investigators she was aware of a "men's only" trip to the Bahamas.
Lobbyist Beth Kigel also said she heard of the party, but that it wasn't exactly "men's only." She told investigators however that the only women involved were "paid."
Johnson gave his deposition back in June, but now parts of that deposition have been released. According to stories from the AP and The Tampa Bay Times, Johnson testified that during a party at the Bahamas event golf carts full of women suddenly appeared. Johnson said that he personally witness prostitution taking place, but would not say if the party or any one connected to it had arranged for the prostitutes to arrive.
"I specifically saw a golf cart with young ladies drive by, the extent of why they were there I did not specifically know," Johnson testified. "But I could presume they were prostitutes."
Sure, we guess the Bahamas can be kind of crazy. You never know when a rogue band of hookers is going to arrive in a bunch of golf carts.
In addition to Greer and Johnson, Charlie Crist, lobbyist Brian Ballard and GOP finance chair Harry Sargeant were also at the event.
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