Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer pushed back Thursday against state GOP officials, threatening to sue the party to comply with terms of a severance package which officials say was never properly completed.
Greer’s attorney, Damon Chase of Lake Mary, has a seven-page agreement signed by Greer and top party leaders, dated Jan. 4, that would have paid him $11,250 monthly for 11 months. In turn, Greer was to step down as chairman.
The party for months has acknowledged that there were discussions of a Greer severance package. But officials have said the offer was later rescinded by party leaders. The copy of the pact Chase provided the News Service of Florida has a space for the signature of John Thrasher, who wasn’t elected party chairman for another month.
“It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy where everyone is going to be taken down,” Chase said of the increasingly bitter fight between Greer and party leaders.
Greer is being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican, demanded the probe after a party internal audit showed the ousted chair had been a majority stakeholder in Victory Strategies, a company that received 10 percent of major campaign contributions to the party.
Greer’s partner in Victory Strategies was Delmar Johnson, the party’s executive director and top fundraiser. GOP officials say they had no knowledge of the arrangement, although Chase said party leaders had agreed to the deal about a year ago.
Chase said that instead of costing the party money, Victory Strategies, effectively replaced an agreement with former fund-raiser Meredith Rourke, who was paid $30,000 monthly, in addition to 10 percent of major party donations.
“It’s going to come out that people knew about this,” Chase said.
But the Florida GOP’s new executive director, Ronnie Whitaker said Greer was just looking to shift attention away from the rising controversy.
“It is abundantly clear that Jim Greer has some significant legal problems and appears desperate to do anything possible to deflect those legal challenges at the further expense of the party and our core mission of supporting and electing Republicans,” Whitaker said.
