Behind closed doors the Democratic National Committee has to be looking aghast at Patrick Murphy's antics and screaming for a mulligan.
Every time you turn around the ethically challenged congressman Washington Democrats backed to take Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat is making himself a prize laughingstock.
It's something every week.
This week Murphy, who represents parts of the Treasure Coast, ground zero in the algae bloom crisis, pulled a campaign stunt so meaningless and transparently political, Capitol staffers are still guffawing over it. And not in a good way.
On Tuesday, having summoned the media, he drove the six hours north from Jupiter to Tallahassee, showing up at the governor's office with a bottle of toxic green algae water.
Only problem is, Gov. Rick Scott wasn't there. He was attending a scheduled jobs event in Orange County and it was no secret. Murphy had to know he wouldn't be in the office before he climbed in his car. And if he didn't know it, well, that would make him a doofus and I'd rather not go there.
But what the heck -- where there are cameras, there's the making of a photo op.
Murphy was actually inside the governor's office for maybe 30 seconds.
Before withdrawing to the rotunda for a better chance to talk to the press, he ended up just plunking the bottle of foul water on the desk of a bewildered secretary who had no idea what to do with it.
Here's how Kristen M. Clark of The Miami Herald quoted Murphy in his rotunda interview: "We have repeatedly called on the governor to come down and visit our district to see this firsthand, and the governor has refused to see it. So, I decided that I wanted to come to Tallahassee and deliver this bottle of toxic algae to the governor to make sure he sees exactly what we're dealing with on a day-to-day basis."
Scott's spokeswoman Jackie Schutz, who knows as well as anyone in Tallahassee how involved the governor is in the Treasure Coast's algae crisis, issued a statement about Murphy's visit.
"We wish Congressman Murphy would spend more time in Washington getting Congress and the president to approve funding to repair the federally operated Herbert Hoover Dike, which has caused the algae problem in the Treasure Coast," she said. "Time and time again, the state continues to show up and put up funding to help with the water quality in this area and we wish Congress and the president would do the same."
Schutz added, "While Governor Scott has dedicated full resources to address this problem and recommended funding in next year’s budget, the federal government has failed to fund over $800 million in Everglades restoration which they are responsible for."
But my favorite part of the Murphy interview was his audacity to tell the press, "This (algae) isn't a problem where you should be pointing fingers and blaming folks. ... The local government, the state government, the federal government all have to come together to solve this problem -- not see how you can score some cheap political points."
Excuse me, Patrick, but the governor isn't running for office. You are. Forgive me, but I think if anybody is trying to score "cheap political points," uhhh ...
The Herald story makes my point by saying, "Murphy was himself criticized earlier this month over the algae crisis. His congressional office attempted to delay the announcement of aid for small businesses so that Murphy could announce it at a press event he'd planned."
Murphy's hollow Tallahassee photo-op to convince Treasure Coast constituents he has their backs on algae wasn't the only bad news he made for himself this week.
There's also that question about his legal problems.
In case you missed it, Murphy’s floundering Senate campaign reported spending a whopping $27,000 in legal fees in its latest FEC filing. Which is more than twice what the campaign spent on legal fees in the previous filing from April ($12,600).
So you have to ask yourself, why is Murphy spending so much money in legal fees? Is it because there have been FOUR FEC complaints filed against his campaign in less than a year?
Here are some areas where the Senate Leadership Fund, a non-profit independent 527 political organization, thinks he may need legal help:
- The Leadership Fund filed an FEC complaint alleging Murphy participated in an illegal straw donor scheme with his friend and convicted domestic abuser Ibrahim Al-Rashid. This is also the very kind of scheme that more often than not sparks a federal criminal investigation (see here, here, here, here, and here).
- A progressive activist filed an FEC complaint, congressional ethics complaint, and a Department of Justice complaint alleging Murphy traded favors for campaign cash.
- The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed an FEC complaint alleging Murphy had illegally coordinated with the super PAC funded by his construction company.
- A Democratic Party official in Florida filed an FEC complaint asking for an investigation into a donor swap scheme between Murphy’s campaign and that of Ami Bera, whose father went to jail for ... orchestrating an illegal straw donor scheme.
Senate Leadership Fund's aggressive spokesman Ian Prior sums it up this way: “From resume fraud to donor fraud, Patrick Murphy’s campaign is sinking under the weight of his lies, deception and corruption. It really is amazing that of all the people in Florida, this habitual liar is the best Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer could come up with.”
Patrick Murphy is the Republican-turned-Democrat millionaire who carpetbagged his way from Miami to the Treasure Coast in 2012. He upended Republican Allen West that year, and in the wake of the St. Lucie estuary crisis in 2013, was reelected in 2014.
One St. Lucie County resident told me, "Patrick shows up at everything, so of course residents think he's really doing something for them."
But for all the jars of water he's collected and carried to Washington, never mind Tallahassee, he hasn't been close to one single water quality solution on Capitol Hill or in a pertinent federal agency. It makes you wonder. Does Murphy just not know how to get the attention of administration leaders? We're just now finding out about the lies on his resume. Does this fellow know what hard work is?
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
