FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY SOURCE OF LEON COUNTY PAYMENT

The Florida Democratic Party announced that apparantly in an effort to covor up her apparant financial missteps as elected treasurer of the Leon County Democratic Party, former state party controller Debbie Griffin-Bruton used state party funds of $10,500 to pay a fine against the local party organization for filing it's required quarterly finance report three weeks late.

According to party spokesman Mark Herron, Ms. Griffin-Bruton apparantly used a stamp of then-chairman and current gubernatorial candidate Scott Maddox's signature to make the three checks good. The checks were two for $5,000 each and one for the remaining $500 to avoid a required second signature per party rules. Herron said that the state party is convinced that neither Maddox or executive director (and Leon County DEC Chair) Paige Carter-Smith were made aware of the action.

The Maddox campaign released a letter from Griffin-Bruton last week saying that she accepted the blame for the errors, citing bad judgement due to stress caused by the demands of caring for her husband, who was recently diagnosed with the first stages of Alzheimer's Disease. Griffin-Bruton was hired by Maddox from her previous job handling financial matters with the City of Tallahassee's Parks and Recreation Department while he was mayor.

The Republican-leaning Florida Police Benevolent Association filed charges claiming that with Maddox's signature on the report stating the Leon County Democratic Party financial form stating that there were no expenditures during the last quarter of 2004, he violated state law by committing a felony. Maddox was chairman of both the Florida Democratic Party and Leon County Democratic Executive Committee at the time. Maddox said he signed the form in good faith as Griffin-Bruton never informed him of the fine.