Indict Katherine Harris

Katherine Harris is running for U.S. Congress from Florida's 13th District.

Harris should be indicted, not elected.

We call upon Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth (The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050, phone 850-487-1963) and Leon County (Tallahassee) State Attorney Willie Meggs (301 South Monroe St. #475, Tallahassee FL 32399, phone 850-488-6701) to indict Katherine Harris for the crimes listed below.

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To read the complete Democrats.com coverage of Katherine Harris, click here.

I. Election 2000 Crimes

We have documented 14 official crimes by Katherine Harris for the Stolen Election on our Floridagate page.

II. Other Crimes

Sources:
9/29/01 St. Petersburg Times

State Employee Travel

The review by the auditor general found a number of instances where employees in Harris' department bought first-class or business-class tickets for foreign travel instead of less-expensive coach-class tickets, violations of state travel regulations.

Personal Use of Government Resources

The auditors also found Harris had no procedures for screening personal calls made on state cell phones. Reviewing expenditures made between July 1, 1999, and March 31, 2001, auditors determined that more than 38 percent of the calls could not be associated with a valid state purpose.

Fraudulent Record Keeping

Harris' staff routinely recorded expenditures made by one division as being made by another. For example, expenditures incurred by a Latin American affairs consultant for foreign travel were attributed to the state Division of Elections. Cell phone expenses incurred by Harris' own office were listed as expenditures by the Division of Corporations.

Inspector General Law

"Each inspector general shall report to and be under the general supervision of the agency head and shall not be subject to supervision by any other employee of the state agency."

Inspect General Dwight Chastain said Harris' office was in violation of a state law that requires the inspector general to report directly to the head of an agency. Chastain, 57, says he only talked directly with Harris once during the two years he held the job and was forced to communicate only through Assistant Secretary Dave Mann. "That is an inappropriate way of doing it," Chastain said. "The secretary or agency head has to have confidence in the inspector general and the inspector has to have the ear of the secretary." The jobs were created at state agencies to promote accountability, integrity and efficiency in government.

Punishing Whistleblowers

Harris fired Chastain this week, and he says it's because of the critical report. "It was either do what they want, be fired or resign," Chastain said... Harris fired her inspector general this week after he balked at changing a report on the department's financial operations. The dispute arose as Chastain prepared an annual report that is required of inspectors general at all state agencies. In the report, Chastain said, he noted that Harris' office was in violation of a state law that requires the inspector general to report directly to the head of an agency. Shortly after submitting a draft of his report, Chastain said Mann accused him of trying to embarrass Harris and on Wednesday presented him with a one-sentence letter dismissing him from his job. Chastain said he asked to submit a letter of resignation and was allowed to write a second letter. Then he was escorted back to his office, allowed to clear out his personal possessions and escorted from the building where he has worked for almost 15 years.