Friday, August 08, 2008

Kevin Denies

In stories in the Tribune and the St. Pete Times, County Commissioner Kevin denies any deal in accepting illegal contributions.

Kevin says "Cox's allegations "the jailhouse ramblings of a reputed con man." and "Let me assure the residents of Hillsborough County as well as the city of Tampa that at no time was there any deal cut by myself and now-convicted felon Matthew Cox, nor any other contributor for that matter," "

He also says "It's another jailhouse snitch trying to get his sentence reduced by making false allegations against an elected public official," said White, now a Hillsborough County Commissioner. "I guess I am the target."

Kevin's aunt and his campaign opponent in the City Council race says ""The most recent allegations about Kevin, if true, suggest a pattern of unethical and illegal actions over the years," White-King said. "Sometimes it takes time for the truth to surface. But it usually does.""

Current City Council member Tom Scott says ""I would not want to be in his shoes," said Tom Scott, who now holds White's former seat on the City Council. "Those are serious allegations.""

The FBI says ""It was a very interesting story," said FBI spokesman David Couvertier. "At this time, we aren't in a position to comment.""

Even if he did accept the contributions in a quid quo pro arrangement it may be all moot, except for campaign fodder as: "The statute of limitations for elections law violations is generally two or three years, depending on the severity of the offense. An exception is made, however, when the offense involves official misconduct, such as bribery. Then the statute of limitations is two years from the time the official leaves that public office. White left the city council in November 2006 to join the Hillsborough County Commission."

What do you say?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's been apparent from the beginning that Kevin White entered politics for his own personal gain. He never had the public's interest at heart and that's more and more evident as time passes.

Anonymous said...

Alyssa Ogden’s lawsuit says White at least twice asked her to give him a kiss while at County Center, and in one case, he pulled her toward him, then threw a stack of $100 bills at her when she refused, saying, “Just take it, just give me a chance.”
Cox told the Times his arrangement with White included giving him an additional $7,000 cash to help win his run-off election in 2003.
Question for the FBI - do you see the connection now?