Originally Posted - October 19, 2006

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Two days after Rep. Jeffrey Kottkamp, chairman of the Florida House's Judiciary Appropriations Committee, was tapped by Republican Attorney General Charlie Crist to be his running mate in his campaign to become the next Governor of Florida, Kottkamp contributed $500 to Crist's election campaign.

And on Sept. 18, Kottkamp donated another $500 to Crist's campaign.

In the 14-day period between Sept. 15 and Sept. 29, attorney Kottkamp, who works for Morgan and Morgan, one of the state's largest trial law firms, contributed $1,000 to the Crist campaign.

The thing is, Florida election law limits the contributions an individual may make to an individual candidate to $500 per candidate per election.

According to campaign finance reports filed with Florida's Division of Elections, Crist has not returned the excess contributions, which would seemingly place both Crist and Kottkamp in violation and subject to criminal as well as civil penalties.

Do it once, it's a misdemeanor.

Do it twice, it's a felony.

Florida law says that anyone who makes or accepts more than one $500 contribution from an individual or who knowingly and willfully fails or refuses to return any contribution as required commits a misdemeanor of the first degree. Any individual who makes or accepts two or more contributions in excess of the $500 limit per election per candidate commits a felony of the third degree.

Crist was already under scrutiny for contributions made to his campaign by another top lawyer and Republican fundraiser Anthony S. Battaglia.
http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/101806BattagliaWeb.html

The North Country Gazette has learned that a formal complaint against Crist, Kottkamp, Battaglia and others who allegedly violated campaign finance law in relation to Crist's campaign was filed Thursday with the Florida Elections Commission by a resident of Pinellas County.

On Sept. 13, Attorney General Crist, the state's chief law enforcement officer, was the focus of a major fundraiser with President Bush in Orlando. The fundraiser was co-hosted by Democrat John Morgan, founder of one of the largest and most advertised trial lawyer firms in the state and law partner of Crist's running mate, Kottkamp.

Morgan served on the finance committee for President Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign.

If elected Governor, Crist would have the power to appoint judges, make appoints to the Board of Medicine, the Department of Health and the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Kottkamp represents District 74 in the House, parts of Charlotte and Lee Counties.

In addition to chairing the Judiciary Appropriations Committee, Kottkamp is a member of the House Judiciary Committee which would consider impeachment proceedings for judges. He was a member of the Attorney General Transition Team in 2004.

When Crist tapped Kottkamp on Sept. 13 to be the Republican candidate for Lt. Governor, Crist called Kottkamp "a man of great integrity". The pair have known each other since Crist's failed 1998 attempt to be elected to the U.S. Senate. In 2003, Kottkamp sponsored a bill that gave Crist as Attorney General greater powers to prosecute civil rights violations.

As The North Country Gazette exclusively reported Wednesday, the founder of one of West Central Florida's oldest law firms and former member of the Republican National Committee also appears to have violated campaign finance law along with Crist by his contributions to Crist's campaign.

DOE records indicate that on Sept. 28, Anthony S. Battaglia, using an address of 430 72nd St., in St. Petersburg and an occupation of attorney, donated $500 to Crist's campaign. The next day, Sept. 29, Battaglia, using an address of 10622 Park Place Dr., in Seminole and an occupation of mortgage broker, donated another $500 to Crist. At virtually the same time on Sept. 29, another $500 donation was made to Crist by Battaglia Enterprises of 980 Tyrone Blvd., in St. Petersburg, the address of Battagalia, Ross, Discus and Wein law firm, listing an occupation of real estate. The thing is, however, that that corporation of which Anthony S. Battaglia is listed as the registered agent, sole director, president, secretary and treasurer, was administratively dissolved and became inactive as of Sept. 15.

If Anthony Battaglia signed the check for the inactive corporation Battaglia Enterprises, then it appears that the Battaglia is yet another individual contribution, indicating that he contributed $1,500 to the Crist campaign in two days, a violation of law.

According to the record of expenditures for the Crist campaign, the excess money contributed by Battagalia hasn't been returned.

The complaint filed with FEC also questions donations to Crist's campaign by members of the Farah & Farah law firm of Jacksonville, indicating that $2,000 was contributed by Charles, Eddie, Reem and Ruba Farah on June 29 during the Primary campaign for Governor.

The complaint refers to FS 106.08 (5)(a) which states that a person may not make any contribution through or in the name of another, directly or indirectly, in any election. The complainant says that it appears that attorney Eddie Farah is allegedly making contributions through or in the name of his family members in violation of state election law.

After it was revealed that the law firm, Farah, Farah & Abbott, aka Law Firm of Eddie Farah, had been regularly overcharging its personal injury clients, in January 2005, the office of Attorney General Crist declined to investigate allegations of the firm's overcharging practices, ostensibly because the Florida Bar's was the appropriate agency to address them.

Attorney Jeffrey R. Hill was employed by the law firm when he discovered the overcharging practice.

An audit completed in April, 2005 by The Florida Bar showed that the Farah law firm admitted to having overbilled clients and has issued approximately $130,000 in refunds. However, the Bar inexplicably refused to initiate any disciplinary action against Farah.

The report was prepared by certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner James F. Wells following his audit on Farah's trust account records and procedures for the period 2002 through 2004 to determine whether they complied with the requirements of the Florida Bar rules governing trust accounts.

The Bar audit substantiated Hill's claim, saying that "administrative costs that were not substantiated by documentary evidence were charged on some settlement statements in personal injury cases. These administrative costs were in excess of the documented costs such as copies, faxes and postage. Rule 5-1.2(b)(4) requires documentary support for all disbursements from the trust account. These costs were not authorized by the clients". Additionally, in a letter to the Bar in September, Farah admitted that clients of his firm had been overcharged.

According to Hill, "The firm was routinely 'padding' costs charged to clients and had been doing so for several years. The overcharges were frequently $300 or more per case and the firm required clients to sign settlement statements certifying that they agreed with the falsified costs figures before any portion of their settlement proceeds would be paid to them, Hill says. "The firm's contingency fee contracts, accounting records and settlement statements clearly document its overcharging practices."

Despite the overwhelming evidence of fraud on consumers, Crist refused to open an investigation into the matter.

Hill resigned from the law firm in October 2004 because of what he terms the firm's fraudulent overcharging practices which he says presented him with irreconcilable conflicts of interest as an attorney representing its clients.

The FEC complaint regarding Crist's campaign contributions also alleges that several other improper donations have been made to and accepted by Crist.

Crist's campaign office did not respond to NCG's request for a comment regarding the allegations. 10-19-06

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