The Internal Revenue Service has opened a "primary" investigation into the tax records of three former Florida GOP officials, including GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio, the St. Petersburg Times and Miami Herald jointly report.
The investigation has not been publicly confirmed, and Rubio's campaign adviser told the Times that no federal investigators have contacted Rubio.
Nevertheless, the reported investigation puts new scrutiny on the former Florida House Speaker just as speculation mounts that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will run for the Senate as an independent, leaving the GOP nomination for Rubio, who is far ahead in the polls.
The IRS is investigating expenses that Rubio and two other officials, ex-state party chairman Jim Greer and ex-party executive director Delmar Johnson, put on the American Express cards issued to them by the Republican Party of Florida, the newspapers report. Investigators are reportedly looking into whether Rubio and the others used their GOP credit cards for personal expenses without reporting or paying taxes on additional income.
The newspapers reported earlier that Rubio charged more than $100,000 to his GOP credit card during his two years as House speaker for expenses including grocery bills and plane tickets for his wife. Rubio released a statement saying that his expenses were for "legitimate political purposes."
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