Exhibit A: Doug Guetzloe's repeated claims about supporters of Lawson Lamar being charged with ethical violations. He, both individually and through his "Ax the Tax" group, has been sending out mailers, making robocalls, and writing too many Facebook posts to count, with a wild assortment of false accusations.
Facts are pesky things to people like Guetzloe, so I thought I'd just share some information as a reminder to question what you read and demand evidence of his claims.
Guetzloe's "Ax the Tax" organization is the same group that got in trouble with the Florida Elections Commission for a series of violations in the 2008 elections, including issues with disclaimers and the fact that the group had filed organizational paperwork to be an issue-based committee but was endorsing candidates. Guetzloe entered into a consent order with the FEC and was ordered to pay a fine.
Now - watch this, Doug, this is what proving your claims looks like - if you go to the links in the above paragraph, you can read for yourself the Order of Probable Cause issued by the Florida Elections Commission, detailing the charges against Ax The Tax, as well as describing past violations by Guetzloe and the fact that he had not paid the fines assessed for those violations.
Guetzloe never seems to admit that any of this happened, but then again, he has a long history of making statements about legal proceedings that are absolutely not true. He also has a long history of filing meritless complaints against people who disagree with him, and I wouldn't be shocked if he files another round against me this year.
In 2010, Guetzloe posted several press releases and blog posts, claiming that I was "under investigation" for "multiple violations" of the election laws and by the Florida Bar. What he failed to mention was that one-hundred percent of those "investigations" were because of complaints that he had filed or caused to be filed (one came from Margaret "Peg" Dunmire, one of his fake tea party "Florida Tea Party" Congressional candidates).
Every single complaint that Guetzloe filed against me was completely dismissed, with absolutely no finding of any wrongdoing by me and no penalties assessed. Again, I am able to prove my words here: I posted copies of the letters from the Florida Bar dismissing the complaints against me and the Order of No Probable Cause from the FEC on my Scribd account. You can read them yourself:
Florida Bar letter closing complaint filed by Doug Guetzloe
Florida Bar letter closing complaint filed by Margaret Dunmire
FEC Order of No Probable Cause Dismissing Complaint Against Sarah Rumpf
In contrast, I just looked up Guetzloe's "Ax The Tax" on the Florida Division of Elections website (http://doe.dos.state.fl.us), and it looks like the group is still in trouble. Despite the fact that the FEC already fined the group for endorsing candidates when it was registered as an issue-based organization, not a candidate organization, Guetzloe has yet to file the paperwork needed to allow the group to endorse candidates, which it has been doing this election cycle. There is also a series of letters from the past few years about Ax The Tax's failure to file required reports, assessing fines, and other issues. Again, you don't have to take my word for it, you can read the documents themselves.
So here we are. Another election year, and once again, convicted criminal Doug Guetzloe is making false accusations that everyone who opposes him is corrupt, without having any proof to back it up, all the while engaged in hilariously theatrical attempts to distract from his own record.
It does beg the question: if Jeff Ashton is seriously committed to the criminal justice system, why does Ashton's campaign so willingly accept help from a criminal who was convicted by the same State Attorney's Office which he now seeks to run? How can any serious candidate for State Attorney (the chief law enforcement officer in our community) not reject and denounce support from such a person? Moreover, as an attorney, how can Ashton condone false attacks being made on other fellow members of the Florida Bar?
What price is Jeff Ashton willing to pay in order to win an election?
The next case to watch will be Margaret Dunmire vs. Douglas M, Guetzloe, Orange County Case No. 2011-CC-018134-O. Yep, she's apparently suing him for breach of contract. The discovery should be very interesting.
I heard Peg Dunmire donated a bunch of her retirement money to that TEA party that Doug Guetzloe started and feels like he cheated her. Is that why she's suing? Wonder what he promised her? Although maybe she should have known better than to give money to Guetzloe?
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