Crist Calls NY Times article a "hatchet Job"

After a months-long investigation, looking over thousands of emails and conducting more than 60 interviews, The New York Times released a report saying Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades deal seems to really only be a good deal for U.S. Sugar... and Crist's long-time friend, George LeMieux.

Sunshine State News interviewed Crist Monday afternoon for his reaction and he dismissed the extensive research and reporting of The New York Times as a "hatchet job."

"...When a 'fairness opinion' commissioned by the state found that those appraisals had overvalued the land by $400 million, Florida officials orchestrated a public relations campaign to discredit the findings, internal e-mail showed. Appraisers from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which was required to sign off on the deal, were also cut out of the process after raising concerns, e-mail messages showed. ...

"...United States Sugar dictated many of the terms of the deal as state officials repeatedly made decisions against the immediate needs of the Everglades and the interests of taxpayers, an examination of thousands of state e-mail messages and records and more than 60 interviews showed. ...

"...Former Gov. Jeb Bush, who initiated most of that work, said in an interview that he was deeply disappointed with the decision by Mr. Crist, his successor and a fellow Republican, calling the move to halt the projects a setback for restoration.

"...To replace projects that were under way for a possibility of a project decades from now is not a good trade, Mr. Bush said. On a net basis, this appears to me there has been a replacement of science-based environmental policy for photo-op environmental policy.

"...In its current form, the deals only clear, immediate beneficiaries would be United States Sugar, a privately held company based in Clewiston, Fla., and its law firm, Gunster, which is expected to collect tens of millions of dollars in fees for its work on the sale, according to current and former United States Sugar executives."

When asked to respond to former Governor Jeb Bush's comments, Crist shrugged and said, "Everyone's entitled to their opinion."

You can read the full NY Times article here