TIMING IS EVERYTHING – AT 8:40 A.M. ET:  The administration is pushing a financial-reform bill, and, poof, we're suddenly told that Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs is being charged with fraud. 

There'll be a major Senate race in Florida this year, and, poof, we're suddenly told that...  The Politico explains:

The Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times report this evening that federal authorities -- the IRS, FBI, and U.S. Attorney -- are probing the use of party credit cards by Republican Party officials including former Chairman Jim Greer, and by Marco Rubio, who's now the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for Senate:

[T]he IRS is also looking at the tax records of at least three former party credit card holders — former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, ex-state party chairman Jim Greer and ex-party executive director Delmar Johnson — to determine whether they misused their party credit cards for personal expenses, according to a source familiar with the preliminary inquiry.

Political parties, which are tax exempt, are allowed to spend money only on political activities, such as fundraising, running campaigns and registering voters. While it's commonplace for party officials and politicians to wine and dine donors, the Florida party allowed credit cardholders to rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in charges with little oversight.

The IRS opened the so-called "primary'' investigation into Rubio, the leading Republican candidate for Florida's open U.S. Senate seat, and the two state GOP ex-officials to see if there's enough evidence to support a full-fledged criminal probe, according to a source familiar with the IRS examination.

Rubio campaign advisor Todd Harris said Tuesday that the former lawmaker from Miami has not been contacted by any federal investigators.

"There is absolutely nothing to this,'' he said. "Anyone who is looking into it or investigating will quickly come to the same conclusion.''

COMMENT:  It's entirely fitting and proper that they should do this – except that the timing has an aroma about it.  The Democratic political operation in Washington would like nothing better than to knock off Marco Rubio, a rising Republican star, and a Hispanic.  Think national ticket, v.p. slot, 2012 or 2016. 

Polls show that Rubio has the GOP Senate nomination locked up, and will be an easy winner in November if Governor Charlie Crist doesn't run as an independent.  But if Crist runs, and Rubio is damaged by a federal probe, it's possible for weak Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek to slip through.

Just speculating, just speculating. 

April 21, 2010