Politics

Jennifer Carroll Vows to Fight Fired Aide's 'Blatant Lies'

By: Jim Turner | Posted: July 14, 2012 3:55 AM

Around the State

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll

Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll is telling supporters she is preparing to fight allegations from a fired underling facing felony charges.

Carroll has started to respond to emails this week from individuals offering her encouragement after AP reported Tuesday that court documents filed by attorneys for former aide Carletha Cole included a comment that she had caught her boss in a compromising position with another female staffer.

“I will be fighting back against these blatant lies,” Carroll wrote Franz H. Metz, who had told her to “stand firm and fight this attempt to discredit you and your office.”

Carroll told Lake Mary residents Mary Jane and George Duryea that such support helps, while taking a critical shot at the sensationalized reporting of the allegations.

“Unfortunately, as an elected official, character defamation that is totally fabricated can occur like this and there is not much I can do,” Carroll wrote.

“The media love to put out sensational stories without doing due diligence to verify the authenticity. Having supporters like you helps me and my family get through these trying times.”

Cole, who is facing five years in prison, was charged in October after releasing an illegally taped conversation to the Florida Times-Union involving Carroll’s chief of staff.

In Florida it is illegal to electronically record someone without their knowledge, with an exception for certain conversations in public places.

Cole was fired shortly after the tape was released and she publicly complained about atmosphere within Carroll’s office.

A number of emails to Carroll were spurred by a release from Cindy Graves, president of the Florida Federation of Republican Women and the GOP state committeewoman for Duval County, who came to Carroll’s defense on Thursday.

"The scurrilous accusations against our fine friend and mentor come from a disgraced woman facing criminal charges stemming from incidents which caused her to be fired from the lieutenant governor's office," Graves wrote.

Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.

Tags: Carletha Cole, Cindy Graves, Florida Federation of Republican Women, Jennifer Carroll, News, Politics

Comments (7)

bart simpson

9:03PM JUL 18TH 2012

Who's gonna fight Jennifer Carroll's lies?

King J.

10:26PM JUL 14TH 2012

What do we really know about Cole? Why did the media not verify her accusations? Why didn’t the media ask the questions, “why did it take Cole over 8 months to mention this accusation”, why didn’t Cole say something when she was fired? Why haven’t the press interviewed anyone else in the office as to what they may have seen or heard? Why isn’t it asked that if security is with Carroll did they see anything? Why haven't anyone in the press asked for Cole’s personnel and supervisor employment record to see if she was a trouble employee or see if she received counseling’s for her conduct or work in the office? What about Cole being a minister, if she is a minister why did she say she is in seminary school at Harvard? If you are already a minister then you would not be in seminary school? If Cole is single and Carroll is married for 29 years, who should be more prone to have a relationship like what Cole is accusing Carroll of? If Carroll for 20 years in the military worked with women, in politics worked with women and in her business hired mostly women and no one other than Cole ever witness an act like this, then is Cole’s story credible? Too many unanswered question about the media’s responsibility to be make sure the story is correct and too many unanswered questions about Cole exist.

Frank

11:44PM JUL 14TH 2012

It's clear you were never meant to be a journalist.

Perhaps FoxNews could use some of your fair and balanced prejudging insinuations (e.g. If Cole is single and Carroll is married for 29 years, who should be more prone to have a relationship like what Cole is accusing Carroll of?).

And it's not like Ms. Cole is known to be an AME Minister, mother of two and grandmother of four, now is it?

Yes, many questions are outstanding about Carletha Cole, as well as the Lt. Governor, Cindy Graves, and the actual charges of illegal recording, which Carletha Cole denies.

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I recognize strangeness in the referenced timings and serious charges within Cindy Graves' letter that don't make common sense in light of Cole's later hiring.

Ranger

10:07PM JUL 14TH 2012

". . .she publicly complained about atmosphere within Carroll’s office." This was a violation of her terms of employment. Per her employment agreement, an employee may be released for going to the press with this sort of information. And this was the reason she was fired. It was not until a few days after she was fired that she release the recorded tapes to the media then the state filed felony charge against her for secretly recording and transmitting the tapes. The felony charges Cole is facing does not include the Lieutenant Governor. It is between the person she recorded Knokus (The State) vs Cole.

Frank

9:30PM JUL 14TH 2012

Here's a portion of the Cindy Graves' letter from the Ledger that has some strange timeframes in it:
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
The sad truth about accuser Carletha Cole AKA “CC Cole”

Sadly, many of us know the accuser Carletha Cole as “CC Cole”, a former member of our organization who used her association with our august group to gain access to celebrities, VIPs and elected officials and ultimately to disrupt the 2008 elections.

Cole left membership in the FFRW under less than stellar circumstances, gaining the ire of many associated with her. I have no respect for this glory seeking woman and lost any small regard I may have still had after her disruptive performance as a local club officer, when I was forced to intervene in the transition of officers from her club asking Cole to return property of the club and so forth. Very embarrassing for all concerned and we hoped to never hear from her again.

No doubt Cole is enjoying the infamous limelight today and her timing of trying to smear the highest ranking Republican woman in our state, as Cole also happens to be an unapologetic Obama supporter who attended his inauguration in 2009 – which also helps explain why her former club members wanted nothing more to do with her.

Sincerely,
Cindy Graves
Florida Federation of Republican Women
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Very strange letter, indeed, from Cindy Graves.

Based on this letter, Carletha Cole was a known trouble-maker before the referenced 2008 (FFRW) election, was known to be an Obama supporter in early 2009, and was considered to be a pariah to the Florida Federation of Republican Women by the 2010 Florida Governor's election.

Then why would Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll EVER recruit her into the Governor's office subsequently in 2011 (up to three years after these alleged episodes) to deal with the politically sensitive construction and design of web pages within the Governor's Office?

Something here makes absolutely no sense. Something here smells to high heaven.

Either the Lt. Governor and her staff are totally incompetent in their hiring practices and didn't adequately do their vetting on Ms. Cole; this letter is a hatchet job and at least partly a made-up lie; or this letter's sequence of events and factual basis needs a whole lot of additional explanation.

Something here is rotten, and it's not yet totally clear whether that fishy smell applies to the Lt. Governor, Carletha Cole, or, now, Cindy Graves.

Conservative Voice

9:36AM JUL 14TH 2012

Questions to Ms. Cole should include why did you speak out against the Lt. Gov. in the press to begin with? What or who prompted you to speak out? Did someone suggest you record private conversations?

Honestly, I don't know about you but common sense tells me if a door is shut and you knock you wait until you are told to come in. Ms. Cole tell your liberal attorney this is a path you do not want to go down. Your fifteen minutes of fame and the pats on your back now will only result in more sorrow when you are exposed later.

RepublicanConscience

8:15AM JUL 14TH 2012

". . .she publicly complained about atmosphere within Carroll’s office." No one likes the "atmosphere" when called into the boss's office, or for that matter, the Principal's office.