Taxpayers Paid Reker's $120,000, Twice What Was Initially Reported
Did Bill McCollum's office hide the truth about payments?
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Attorney General Bill McCollum has scrambled to distance himself from the "star" witness he paid to defend Florida's anti-gay adoption ban after George Rekers was caught in the Miami Airport with a male prostitute.
But did McCollum mislead the public and reporters when asked about the huge sums the Attorney General's office directed to Rekers and his co-hort Walter Schumm?
First of all, it turns out the number is much, much larger than originally reported.
An online search of Florida vendors shows Rekers was paid roughly $120,000 and his co-hort Walter Schumm recieved an additional $36,000 in taxpayer money.
McCollum's office also tried to downplay their relationship with Rekers, insisting that DCF paid him, ignoring the fact that the Attorney General's office prosecuted the case, defined the strategy and selected its witnesses. But was McCollum's attempt to shift focus to DCF more than a political sleight of hand? Was it simply a lie?
The same records that show that Rekers was paid double what was originally reported, also show the agency responsible for the funds as "Office of Attorney General- Finance & Accounting."
Here's the link to search the payments to Florida vendors: http://flair.myfloridacfo.com/approot/dispub2/cvphsrch.htm
Here are screen shots from searches of Rekers:
