Bill McCollum’s shady, costly healthcare suit

March 24, 2010 · Posted in Bill McCollum, Florida, Healthcare reform, News and Current Affairs, People, Political News, Politics 

McCollum will fight healthcare reform in the shade.

Bill McCollum’s quack legal quest to deprive some 4 million Floridians of healthcare and restore the right of insurers to drop and deny the sick, all for the sake of boosting his political fortunes, was already looking to cost already struggling Florida tens of thousands of dollars we don’t have. Now, it just got even shadier:

Tampa Bay Buzz: Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum said yesterday that his lawsuit to block Congressional health reform has been handled in house. But now it looks like he has hired an old friend to help out, David Rivkin. A former Reagan-era Department of Justice lawyer, Rivkin’s not just a co-author of an early anti-health reform article (more here). He’s a lawyer at the firm of Baker & Hostetler, which hired McCollum for the few years in between his politician jobs as Congressman and state Attorney General.

McCollum and Rivkin used to lobby Congress together, and it turns out he has given his old pal the contract, on both an “hourly fee” and a no-bid basis, prompting the Florida Democratic Party to fire off the following public records request:

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The Honorable Bill McCollum
Office of Attorney General
State of Florida
The Capitol PL-01
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Dear Attorney General McCollum:

In light of recent revelations that you once again used a no-bid contract to hire one of your political friends – this time a colleague of yours during your time as a Washington lobbyist – to file a frivolous lawsuit against President Obama’s historic health insurance reform law, pursuant to Florida Statute 119.011, I am requesting the following information and records from the Office of the Attorney General:

  • Any and all communications and documents related to communications between your office and your former employer Baker & Hostetler since January, 2006, including but not limited to any and all communications or documents regarding the decision to retain your former lobbying firm Baker & Hostetler and/or your former Washington D.C. lobbying colleague David Rivkin, within the Office of the Attorney General and its respective staff, including but not limited to email, letters, files, and documents.
  • Any and all documents regarding how many state employee hours have been devoted to this effort within the Office of Attorney General or other agencies that have assisted in this lawsuit, including but not limited to email, letters, files, and documents.
  • Any and all documents regarding how much this lawsuit has cost Florida’s taxpayers through efforts within the Office of Attorney General, other agencies who have assisted in this effort, and outside legal counsel, including but not limited to email, letters, files, and documents.
  • Any and all documents regarding deliberations within the Office of the Attorney General about using a no-bid contracting process in retaining your former lobbying firm Baker & Hostetler, including but not limited to email, letters, files, and documents.

This request includes copies of every document related to the matter from January 2009 to present in digital format. Please contact me at 850-222-3411 if you have any problems meeting this request by 12 PM on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010.  If you refuse to provide this information, Chapter 119 requires you to advise me in writing and indicate the applicable exemption to the Public Records Act. If the exemption you are claiming only applies to a portion of the records, please delete or redact that information.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
Sincerely,

Scott Arceneaux
Executive Director
Florida Democratic Party

Of course, the request will go nowhere, and the A.G.’s office will make like they did with AMEXgate and refer all reporter’s calls to the political office. At this point, though, McCollum seems to have proved himself unfit to serve as Florida’s attorney general, let alone as this state’s governor. This lawsuit is laughable on the merits, and it’s even more laughable that two men who theoretically are lawyers (McCollum and former Florida A.G. Charlie Crist,) are pretending not to know there is no case here. Mr. McCollum, you are wasting my time and tax dollars. Kindly get off the stage and go run for office somewhere else.

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