More emerges on Florida document shredding (FL Gov Jeb Bush)

[seafan]

More emerges on Florida document shredding

By Joe Baker, Senior Editor
April 12, 2006

Several weeks ago, Insider Magazine ran a story reporting that a highly placed official of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation alleged state documents were being shredded on orders of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The official said Bush had brought in a number of individuals from Texas to carry out the job of shredding records pertaining to state gaming licensees, slot machines, dog and horse tracks, and jai-alai. The official said he witnessed the shredding.

That story seemed to vanish until very recently. Not one word was heard about the official who blew the whistle or his information. Now, investigative reporter Wayne Madsen, based in Washington, D.C., who has been following the Abramoff scandal, has learned the official involved is a witness for the state in the continuing investigation of Jack Abramoff. Madsen said it is not known whether the official has testified before the grand jury.

The FBI said the destruction of the records may be because of the continuing criminal investigation of GOP lobbyist Abramoff and the federal investigation of the 2001 murder of casino boat owner Gus Boulis. Boulis was shot to death at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., intersection while driving from his office.

snip

DeLay’s former deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy also entered a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to corrupt public officials with Abramoff, who has pled guilty to fraud. Delay’s former press secretary, Michael Scanlon, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to more than five years in prison, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.

According to some reports, federal and state investigations already have uncovered links between DeLay and members of the Gambino Mafia family.


snip

http://www.rockrivertimes.com/index.pl?cmd=viewstory&cat=2&id=12907


EDIT: COPYRIGHT--PLEASE POST ONLY FOUR
OR FIVE PARAGRAPHS FROM THE COPYRIGHTED
NEWS SOURCE PER DU RULES.

[acmavm]

1. Tied in with the Mafia yet. You know, I sort of expect this from

the bush** boys. Leave no criminal stone unturned, or however you want to put it.

[SteppingRazor]

2. Eh, I take anything Wayne Madsen says with a grain of salt...

and Insider Magazine isn't a great source either. Just because a claim supports your beliefs doesn't make it true.

[ewagner]

3. Same here...

I'll wait for some more sources to confirm this before I get excited about it.

[seafan]

4. More detail from article:

snip

Jan. 20, 2001, Kidan met with DeLay and former DeLay aide, Michael Scanlon, in DeLay’s congressional office in Washington to celebrate the Bush inauguration. Scanlon, former DeLay aide Tony Rudy, Abramoff and Kidan all are assisting federal prosecutors after being granted plea bargains.

Madsen also reported that Abramoff, on Jan. 25, 2001, allegedly flew Tim Berry, DeLay’s senior staff member and later DeLay’s chief of staff, to Tampa for the Super Bowl and for a meeting on a Sun Cruz casino boat. Berry did not report the trip on his disclosure forms, and DeLay’s office later said it was an “honest mistake.”

Boulis was murdered Feb. 6, 2001. State prosecutors have recently uncovered evidence that Sun Cruz was taken from Boulis to allow hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to be laundered into Republican campaigns, including the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign and DeLay’s campaign. The funds were laundered through the casino boats.

Daniel Hopsicker, a Florida-based reporter, revealed there are definite links between Abramoff and DeLay and Mohamed Atta and the other 9/11 hijackers. Hopsicker said there may be new disclosures about the lead-up to the Sept. 11 attacks.

If this is true, whoa, Nellie.

[seafan]

5. Here are 2 archived threads from February 2, 2006 for initial story:

Jeb's Illegally Shredding Casino Records. Hmmm. (elehhhhna's thread)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=305254


Jeb is busy at the shredder...Abramoff connection? (Atman's thread)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=309936