Appeals court weighs suit to reveal Scott’s blind trust

Unethical Flori-DUH Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT's blind trust should be revealed. The feckless, reckless Governor's spineless Florida Ethics Commission is a joke.




Appeals court weighs suit to reveal Scott’s blind trust


By John Kennedy
GateHouse Capital Bureau

Posted Jul 17, 2018 at 4:36 PM
Updated Jul 17, 2018 at 4:36 PM

“You can’t just say I have an account, or I have a trust, without disclosing what’s in the trust,” Tallahassee lawyer and Democratic fundraiser Don Hinkle told the court.

TALLAHASSEE – An attorney who sued Gov. Rick Scott arguing he is violating state law by refusing to detail his wide-ranging personal wealth asked an appellate court Tuesday to let his lawsuit continue.

But the general counsel for the Republican governor, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, argued that the case should be dismissed. The Florida Commission on Ethics — not the courts — is where any financial disclosure challenge should be filed, said Daniel Nordby of the governor’s office.

The Ethics Commission, whose members are appointed by Scott, has endorsed the use of a blind trust to report his annual disclosure.

Scott last month reported a $232.6 million net worth — up 56 percent from a year earlier. But $215 million of his wealth was confined to the blind trust, which makes public none of the stocks and other assets it includes.

The trust is managed by a financial advisor Scott has worked with for years. But as recently as Monday, Scott said he plays no role in deciding how his money is invested.

“I put all my assets in a blind trust, so I don’t know how they invested the dollars,” Scott told reporters following a campaign event in St. Petersburg.

Don Hinkle, a Tallahassee lawyer and major Democratic fundraiser, disputes that and told the 1st District Court of Appeal that the state constitution requires “full and fair disclosure” by public officials, a provision approved in 1976 by voters as part of the state’s Sunshine Laws.

“You can’t just say I have an account, or I have a trust, without disclosing what’s in the trust. ... This applies to every officeholder, not just the governor,” Hinkle told the court.

Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers earlier this year refused to dismiss Hinkle’s lawsuit and the governor appealed, leading to Tuesday’s hearing. It was unclear when the 1st DCA would rule.

The state’s blind trust law was created in 2013, largely for Scott, who saw it as a way to avoid allegations that his holdings allowed him to profit from public policies enacted while in office.

Scott doesn’t take a salary as governor, flies his own aircraft to state and campaign events and has spent $86 million of his family’s money in winning two elections as governor.

Hinkle’s lawsuit also claims that Scott controls a family trust with his wife, Ann, but has failed to disclose all of its assets.

Hinkle’s is the third lawsuit filed involving Scott’s use of the blind trust – with courts rejecting the earlier two on similar jurisdictional grounds as those cited by Nordby on Tuesday.

The issue now also could be overtaken by events, since in challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Scott now faces a July 29 deadline to file a federal disclosure requiring he reveal his wife’s assets along with his own detailed holdings.

Nelson filed his disclosure on the May 15 deadline, but Scott asked for – and was given – an extension.