The House Republican says he was falsely accused of refusing to answer questions about a trip to Canada.
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published December 2, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - An "outraged" state Rep. Frank Farkas says he's willing to answer Senate questions about a trip he took to Canada, and he complained that the Senate's top lawyer falsely accused him of being uncooperative.
Farkas, a St. Petersburg Republican, said Senate general counsel Steve Kahn was "completely false" when he said in a recent letter that Farkas had refused to cooperate with a Senate ethics inquiry about a July trip to Toronto paid for by a gambling company.
But before Farkas answers any questions, he wants Kahn to retract the allegation that Farkas was uncooperative and he wants Kahn to explain how reporters got the letter before Farkas received it.
"To say I am outraged would be polite," Farkas wrote in a two-page response he sent to Kahn on Thursday. Farkas wrote that an inference in Kahn's Nov. 29 letter "that I would intentionally frustrate a search for the truth is a direct affront to my character and integrity. I do not take that lightly."
Senate President Tom Lee's spokeswoman, Kathy Mears, said Farkas' letter had not arrived by 6 p.m. Thursday and that Lee would have no immediate response.
Farkas, a state Senate candidate, was the only House member who accompanied three senators on the two-day trip paid for by Magna Entertainment Corp., a gambling conglomerate that owns Gulfstream Park, one of four Broward County gambling sites seeking legislative approval to install slot machines.
All three senators have answered Kahn's questions: Republicans Dennis Jones of Treasure Island, Jim King of Jacksonville and Mike Bennett of Bradenton.
Farkas has been a sought-after witness for the past month. Kahn first asked to speak with Farkas in a conversation with House attorney Deborah Kearney around Oct. 31, according to House spokesman Towson Fraser.
Lee ordered the probe in October after he discovered that Magna disclosed the $48,000 trip as a campaign contribution to the Republican Party of Florida.
Lee disputed Magna's description of the trip as a fundraiser for Senate Republicans. In a letter to a Magna lobbyist last month, the Senate president said the allegations raised by the trip "have cast a cloud on the integrity of the legislative process."
It would be illegal for the lawmakers to accept the trip because they are prohibited from accepting gifts from lobbyists worth more than $100.
Farkas is chairman of the House Commerce Council, giving him sway over all gambling related legislation in the House. But his role as the lone House member on a trip under investigation by the Senate has put him in an awkward position.
Acting on the advice of House Speaker Allan Bense and two House lawyers, Farkas initially balked at answering Kahn's questions about the trip because the House saw a Senate inquiry of a House member as a challenge to its independence. But Farkas said he never personally refused to participate in the inquiry, and emphasized that Kahn never contacted him directly.
"I have had no communication with either you, or anyone else in the Senate President's office, suggesting I was unwilling to participate in the inquiry," Farkas wrote.
Farkas said the timing and release of Kahn's letter was "equally troubling." He asked for a "detailed, written explanation of the process by which your correspondence was distributed, including to whom and exactly when."
The lawmaker was more blunt in a conversation with the St. Petersburg Times Thursday.
"Who's your source?" Farkas asked. "Who'd you get the letter from?"
Th e Times did not obtain its copy of the letter from the Senate.
Fraser confirmed that the House also had copies of Kahn's letter by Tuesday afternoon. Fraser said he saw the letter that day and said a copy was faxed to Bense that day.
Fraser said he could not explain why Kahn's letter that was hand-delivered to Kearney Tuesday afternoon did not reach Farkas until Thursday.
In a related development, Kahn sent Magna's attorneys a three-page letter seeking testimony and extensive information from six senior Magna executives, including executive vice president Paul Cellucci, a former governor of Massachusetts.
Kahn said in his letter he wants all six to provide "knowledge of the purpose, activities, facts, circumstances and results of the Florida legislative delegation's trip to Ontario, Canada, in July 2005."
Magna attorney Peter Dunbar responded in writing Thursday that he sent the letter to Magna "in an effort to timely provide the information."
