This gives a better idea of how they run things in Florida, at least:
TC Palm
WASHINGTON — Former Republican Party of Florida chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan said Tuesday that it was never her job to question personal expenses charged by Marco Rubio using a party American Express card.
Rubio's use of the card for personal expenses — such as brick pavers, haircuts and movie tickets — when he served in the Florida House of Representatives has been an issue since his 2010 Senate race but has resurfaced as he rises in the polls as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.
Jordan, who was chairwoman from February 2003 to January 2007 and is now the tax collector for Indian River County and a Jeb Bush supporter, said she ran a tight ship but didn't personally scrutinize the American Express bills of party leaders. Rubio served in the Florida House from 2000 to 2008 and was Speaker from November 2006 to November 2008, so Jordan's time in office coincided with Rubio's for about four years — roughly Bush's first term as governor.
"The governor (Bush) insisted that everything be transparent and, of course, it was. We had nothing to hide," she said. She said Rubio and others had access to the money they raised "because it was their job, like mine, to go out and elect fellow Republicans."
Rubio acknowledges there were personal expenses estimated at $16,000 that he later reimbursed. Asked whether she ever questioned those expenses at the time, she said no. "That wasn't our job… . Somebody in Mr. Rubio's office, possibly the Speaker himself, they approved their own expenses. It wasn't my job to judge what they spent their money on."
Jordan said that when she took the reins of the party, she brought to the job a "business acumen" it had lacked.
"The Republican Party was just exploding," she said. "We grew up, if you will, and became a multimillion-dollar operation. No chairman is going to sit and go through every single bill. I went through my American Express, or my staff did." And she occasionally reimbursed the party for her husband's meals paid for with the card, she said.
"I personally did not handle his American Express card, or anybody else's. My office did," she said of Rubio. She said there were "obviously" mistakes made because Rubio has had to clarify how he handled the personal expenses. Rubio insisted in 2010 that the card was his, not the party's, because it was "secured under my name, my Social Security number and my personal credit through the Corporate Division of American Express."
Jordan said it was "absolutely" the policy of the party that cards provided were to be used solely for party business. If Rubio did incur personal expenses, would it have violated the policy, she was asked. "I would assume so," she said. "I didn't see it."
