Legal questions swirl around Cannon fundraising account

The news that $655,000 was transferred from the coffers of the Republican Party of Florida to the account of a political organization controlled by Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, raises several legal questions.

The first one is whether or not this violates the two decade old law that bans leadership funds.

The wording of this provision states that leadership funds "means accounts comprised of any moneys contributed to a political party, directly or indirectly, which are designated to be used at the partial or total discretion of a leader."

A leader is described as the House Speaker, the Senate president, or "any person designated by a political caucus of members of either house to succeed to any such position."

There are some other secondary legal questions as well:

Was the transfer of the funds approved by Republican Party of Florida chairman Jim Greer? State law says that no funds can be expended by the party unless there is "written authorization" by the chair of the state executive committee.

State law - 106.08 - also states that a "political party may not accept any contribution that has been specifically designated for the partial or exclusive use of a particular candidate."

A message was sent this morning to the Republican Party of Florida asking about the last two questions.

Katie Gordon Betta, a spokeswoman from the RPOF, said this: "Rep. Cannon discussed making the transfer with Chairman Greer and the transfer was authorized by the RPOF. The specific amount was not in any way designated to have been money that was raised by Cannon - we don't keep separate designations like that. Making the transfer, and determining the amount, were strategic decisions - the same kind we make every election cycle when we transfer money into CCE's. All decisions made about spending, including this transfer, were made by the Chairman and authorized by the RPOF."

A message has also been sent to Rep. Cannon regarding the leadership fund question.

Then there are some practical questions as well. Cannon's account - known as the Florida Liberty Fund - is a committee of continous existence, or CCE. If Cannon raised this money to help House Republican candidates, there are limits to what he can do to help them. CCE's for example cannot donate more than $500 for each candidate - and CCE's also have other limits on how money can be used, including a prohibition against making an "electioneering communication."

One additional note: Many legislators from both parties have ties to various 527s and CCE's so that is nothing new that Cannon has one. Plus the Republican Party of Florida has contributed to other political organizations in the past.

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