Link Between Grayson, Tea Party Questioned - Roll Call
A subsequent article found that the payment to Torres was actually $20,000, not $11,000, and had much more details about the arrangements.
Grayson Paid Company Formed By Fla. Tea Party Candidate - Politics News Story - WKMG Orlando
To recap:
-Last year, a Democrat-turned Republican and a few friends founded a group called the "Florida Tea Party." One of those guys (Guetzloe) was very close to Alan Grayson (D), with his son interning in Grayson's office, Grayson appointing him to an advisory panel, and Grayson handing him money to advertise on his radio show. Guetzloe has also been convictied of election law violations.
-The Florida Republican Party kicked these guys out of the party. They were subsequently sued by other tea party folks who accused them of misappropriating the name to advance their own cause.
-The "Florida Tea Party" is running Congressional candidates in exactly three districts. Those three districts happen to be districts where the election is projected to be close and a third-party conservative could tilt the outcome toward the Democrats.
-The group is now also running a "quasi-paralegal" for a state senate seat. That "quasi-paralegal" just so happens to work for Guetzloe, the one who is close to Grayson and has been convicted of election law violations. She and that Guetzloe created a political consulting firm (based out of her house) with a name that is identical to that of a well-known Republican firm.
-Nobody in Florida has ever heard from her, and there's no evidence that she's worked on any campaign before now.
Despite that, Grayson paid her $20,000 this year for "polling services," shortly before she announced her "Florida Tea Party" candidacy.
-In spite of the fact that she claims to be the owner of a political consulting firm that took in $20,000 over the past 6 months from Grayson, she filed an affidavit in an unrelated lawsuit in April stating that she had "no cash, no income, no potential income, no stock and no possible asset from any corporation." In a deposition, she stated "When Guetzloe requests things to be done, I do things for him that he asks for me to."
...
So what does all this add up to?
Is it proof of some grand conspiracy? No.
Is it proof that this group and all its candidates are plants? No.
Is it fairly strong evidence that there is some underhanded **** going on? Yes.
Many in Congress and on this site were adamant in their insistence that there be a criminal investigation in SC, where there was not even a hint of a link between the GOP and Alvin Green. I hope that those people will be as adamant in pushing for an investigation in this situation, where there are direct financial dealings between Grayson and two of the members of this group.
tl;dr: Grayson has given more than $20k to a sham corporation that was created by a friend of his through his paralegal. That same friend is heading up a group called the "Florida Tea Party" which is running candidates in races where Democrats will benefit from a splitting of the Republican vote.