Grayson subpoenaed over tea party opponent

[Sandra]

Grayson subpoenaed over tea party opponent

URL Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42962.html
Published: Oct 1, 2010
Author: staff
Post Date: 2010-10-01 22:06:01 by out damned spot

The ongoing scrutiny of the Florida Tea Party - and what some believe is Florida Rep. Alan Grayson’s role in planting its candidate on the ballot – is taking its latest odd turn.

A group of tea party activists have served Grayson, a freshman Democrat known for his outspoken style, with a subpoena to testify on Oct. 21 in
Orange County Circuit Court — just weeks before Election Day.

At issue, argue the Tea Party activists, is whether Grayson had any involvement in placing Florida Tea Party candidate Peg Dunmire on the
ballot with an eye toward splitting the GOP vote against him in
November. Republicans and some tea partiers have argued for months that
Dunmire is nothing more than a Grayson stooge whose sole purpose is to
position the Orlando congressman for reelection in November.

Grayson is squaring off in a competitive reelection race against Republican Dan Webster, a former state Senate majority leader and state
House speaker.

Wade Vose, an attorney for Florida Tea Party activists Tim McClellan, Everett Wilkinson and Cheryl Matchett, announced on Wednesday that in hitting Grayson with the subpoena, they
were trying to force him to produce records of his communication with
Doug Guetzloe, a Florida Tea Party co-founder and Orlando GOP political
consultant. The tea party activists are also serving subpoenas on
Guetzloe and Dunmire in an effort to seek out information on their ties
to Grayson.

A June Orlando Sentinel story set off the first rumors of a Grayson-Guetzloe relationship, noting that Guetzloe’s son had once interned for Grayson’s congressional office. During the GOP
primary, traffic signal company executive Bruce O’Donoghue, who
ultimately lost to Webster, also suggested Grayson had ties to the
Florida Tea Party.

The subpoenas stem from a defamation lawsuit Guetzloe filed against McClellan, Wilkinson and Matchett, whom he has accused of wrongly tying him to Grayson.

Grayson, Guetzloe and the Florida Tea Party have all denied that they conspired to place Dunmire on the ballot.

“For months, conspiracy theories have been tossed around by the Republican establishment,” said Sam Drzymala, a Grayson campaign
spokesman. “Career politician Dan Webster's Republican Party
establishment is scared stiff that their own base doesn't want anything
to do with them anymore.”

Frederic O’Neal, the founder and chairman of the Florida Tea Party, told POLITICO in an e-mail that Dunmire was not a plant and said he would be producing the
organization’s bank records in a Thursday news conference in an effort
to clear up the “rumors” over Dunmire’s candidacy.

“We have nothing to hide, and we very much want to put an end to these false accusations,” wrote O’Neal.

[Sandra]

Yes we do and this is poetic justice! He is a zero man and sold Florida out more than one time...