Time for Sheriff Al Lamberti to Step Up (or Down)

I know you want a bombshell. There are bombshells to come. Just not today -- they aren't ready to explode yet.

Plus my computer's been attacked by a vicious virus (something called Antivirus System Pro, in case you come across it), so I'm working on a computer that doesn't have my files in it. Tough times at the Pulp, yet somehow par for the course. You got to roll with the punches.

Now let's get something clear: BSO Lt. David Benjamin is either a target of the federal Scott Rothstein investigation or he is an informant. Or both.  

That's what Moe Sohail's story tells us. Benjamin was up to his ears in Rothstein, well beyond giving him that escort to the plane to Morocco.

It's amazing this guy hasn't been suspended pending the completion of both the BSO investigation into his consulting business (which a source once very close to Rothstein told received $30,000 from Scott) and the federal dragnet. Here I believe Sheriff Al Lamberti once again shows his void of leadership. You see, it's Benjamin -- and/or Wheeler -- who tells Lamberti what to do in these kinds of dicey

circumstances. Lamberti, I'm beginning to understand, isn't real hands-on and, without his fixers, is probably in way over his head.  

Speaking of Lamberti, look at this list from a March 24 fundraiser held by Scott Rothstein (apparently at the Federal Grille in Lighthouse Point):

There may be some clues in there, folks. I'm going to say it again: Rothstein may have operated one of the greatest campaign financing scams in American history here. For memory refreshment, here's some quick research I did a couple of Fridays ago showing that Stuart Rosenfeldt and Russell Adler (including their wives) gave about $1 million apiece. Just about every lawyer in the firm participated in this garbage in one way or another, selling their political souls to Rothstein in exchange for a perch in the firm, which was padded with Ponzi money.

On October 28, 2008, Rosenfeldt gave $60,000 to a political committee called Broward Citizens for Truth. It was operated by Martin Stockdale on behalf of Lamberti's campaign. To put that in perspective, billionaire Wayne Huizenga gave $20,000 -- a third of what the Xanax-popping mogul Rosenfeldt ponied up. On top of that, Rosenfeldt threw $90,000 to a committee backing Lamberti's opponent, Scott Israel. (Just for the record, one of Rothstein's holding companies, WWAW8, tossed in another $50,000 to BCFT.) 

These are sick numbers. There is no way Rosenfeldt earned enough money from the law firm to support those figures. I'm told that the way it worked was that Rothstein would tell Rosenfeldt who to donate to and how much and then reimburse him in bonuses. Did Rosenfeldt report all that money in salary? I'll let you ponder that idea, but I don't know how Rosenfeldt, Adler, and a few others are going to skate through the FBI investigation based on that alone, no matter how much they are cooperating. Also on the radar must be Grant Smith, who served as Rothstein's legislative director.

Finally, there's another political committee that caught my eye, Citizens for Real Change in Florida. This one was run by Michael McAllister, a lawyer with Shutts & Bowen (AKA Broward County lobbyist's George Platt's firm). Of the $180,000 McAllister raised, $169,000 came from Rothstein and friends ($160,000 of it from WAWW companies, $6,000 from COO Debra Villegas, and $3,000 from Marybeth Feiss, RRA's director of business). I asked McAllister about it, and he said the money went toward "progressive" politics. The money was spent right around election time.  

"Yes, he gave a lot of money, but he was giving everyone a lot of money at the time, so we didn't think anything of it," he said.

How did he get the Rothstein money?

"We asked," he said. "Listen, I don't want to talk about this on the record. We took the money, and the money went out."