PolitiFact: Hard to Say Who Paid for Crist's Disney Weekend

An audit of party finances released by the Republican Party of Florida highlighted Gov. Charlie Crist's weekend trip to Disney with former party chairman Jim Greer as one expenditure that was not related to party business. Crist says he and his family paid for their expenses, not the party.

We may never know whether the Republican Party of Florida paid for a trip to Disney for Governor Charlie Crist and his family, according to an analysis by PolitiFact Florida.

"What is clear, and the record shows, that he attempted to pay much of his own way and there are some charges we just can't find," said PolitiFact Florida writer Aaron Sharockman. "The people who would know -- whether it's Jim Greer, whether it's Disney, and maybe Charlie Crist -- they aren't talking."

The trip came to light last week after the party released results of a financial audit. The Disney trip was flagged as an example of the improper spending by former party chairman Jim Greer.

But after the media picked up on the trip, Crist immediately denied that his family's expenses were paid by the party.

"It clearly appears that Charlie Crist and his family tried to pay for their expenses as best they could though we could not say with certainty that he paid for everything and that party donors did not pick up some of the tab," Sharockman said.

He cites an itemized bill provided by Crist's Senate campaign that shows First Lady Carole Crist paid $3,261.57 on her credit card, including charges for two nights in two hotel rooms. But Sharockman said other documents indicate the Crists might not have stayed in those rooms.

"The Republican Party of Florida provided some e-mails that suggested that the party would pick up the cost of the adults' rooms, which would be suites that cost $1,000 a night, and the Crists would pay for the children's rooms, which would be regular rooms," he said.

"You can see how the Crist family would be benefiting because the suites would be a lot more expensive."

Crist's campaign told Sharockman that Crist and his wife stayed in the rooms they paid for, not in the suites.

Sharockman said there were other inconsistencies in the records, including the absence of charges for theme park admission tickets, despite evidence that the group went to one of the Disney parks.

"We actually went to the FLDE, which provides protection to the governor, and the FDLE did tell us that the FDLE agents did provide protection inside the theme park," he said.

Click here to read the full ruling from PolitiFact.