The complaint, which Scott's campaign dismissed as political
"mudslinging," came days after two major state newspapers raised
questions about Scott's financial disclosures and a blind trust he
created after his 2010 election.
Scott, a Republican, is locked in a tight race for re-election with
Democrat Charlie Crist in an expensive and closely watched political
battle in the country's largest swing state.
George Sheldon, a lawyer running for state attorney general, alleged
that Scott controlled a "complex web of investment vehicles,"
including at least six trusts, and other accounts valued at $340
million, while his public financial report, filed with his
re-election papers, showed a net worth of just over $132 million.
Sheldon, a former assistant attorney general, told a news conference
the public needed to be able "to determine whether he (Scott) has a
personal financial stake in the decisions he makes as a public
official."
The Miami Herald and the Tampa Bay Times previously reported on the
governor’s investments in companies that have benefited from his
policies, including oil and gas ventures.
Greg Blair, a spokesman for Scott’s re-election campaign, shrugged
off the lawsuit, saying: "Governor Scott opened the blind trust he
formed in 2011 for the sole purpose of providing transparency and
publicly listed his assets on his financial disclosure in June."
Crist, a former Republican who preceded Scott as governor, has been
hammering Scott as "too shady for the Sunshine state."
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The Scott campaign charged that Crist had issues of his own,
including past associations with imprisoned Ponzi schemer Scott
Rothstein and former Florida Republican chief Jim Greer, who served
time for defrauding the state party as Crist's hand-picked chairman.
On Monday, Crist’s campaign set up a news conference for John
Schilling, an FBI whistleblower who helped expose fraudulent
Medicare billings by Scott’s former hospital company, resulting in a
record $1.7 billion in financial penalties.
Sheldon argued that Scott’s blind trust did not comply with the
state's 1976 "Sunshine Amendment," which requires public
officeholders to disclose assets valued at $1,000.
(Editing by David Adams and Peter Cooney)
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