Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sugar Corp. President Robert Buker look on as Shannon Estenoz, SFWMD board member, signs the first agreement to acquire 180,000 acres from the financially troubled firm. (Image: courtesy of SFWMD)

Soon after his election, Crist went behind closed doors with U.S. Sugar executives to negotiate a deal to buy 180,000 acres from the financially troubled landholder -- ostensibly to "save" the Everglades.

Central to all of this was Eric Buermann, a Miami attorney, whom Crist appointed to the South Florida Water Management District board.

Eric Buermann acted as custodian and attorney for 527s before becoming SFWMD chairman.

Before ascending to the water board, Buermann was custodian of Floridians for Truth and Integrity in Government, a "527" electioneering organization that raised $3 million during the 2006 election cycle.

Buermann also was attorney for a related 527 group, Floridians for a Better and Brighter Future. That organization contributed $1.29 million to the Truth and Integrity fund.

The 527 groups -- named for their numerical designation in the IRS tax code -- are conduits for distributing "soft" money to political parties and for hard-hitting campaign tactics.

Floridians for a Better and Brighter Future's president was Christopher LaCivita, of Richmond, Va. LaCivita produced the "Swift Boat" ads that helped to sink John Kerry's 2004 presidential run.

Both the Better and Brighter Future group and the Truth and Integrity organization filed their final federal tax returns from Alexandria, Va. post-office boxes. Both folded shortly after Crist was elected.

Big Sugar money flowed through both 527s and helped clear the way for Crist's election. The deal with U.S. Sugar followed shortly thereafter.

But, Big Sugar is so sprawling that it has its own feudal divisions, and, so, the political battle rages on.

Two key players, Palm Beach-based Florida Crystals and the Miccosukee Tribe, have branded Crist's Everglades deal as nothing more than a public bailout for a major campaign donor, U.S. Sugar.

"This deal is not driven by science. It's not driven by need,'' said Gaston Cantens, a Florida Crystals vice president. "It was driven by one person's political ambition and one company's necessities.''

Critics, citing a recent New York Times story that questioned the governor's motives, see the Crist-U.S. Sugar alliance as just another chapter in the politicization of the Everglades.

Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, Crist's opponent in the 2010 Republican primary for Senate, has said that U.S. Sugar gave "at least $103,987" in campaign donations to Crist, but following all the money isn't easy to do when 527 groups are involved -- and that's by design.