Greer’s troubles felt throughout Republican Party

Ousted State Republican Chair Jim Greer might be in a world of legal trouble, but his legal woes could mean big political woes for the entire state Republican Party.

Greer is charged with fraud and grant theft for allegedly setting up a company.

Prosecutors said he then used it to funnel money from the state Republican Party into his own personal bank accounts.

It turns out Greer's troubles could be a tough break for elected officials.

Greer's attorneys already said many Republican leaders knew more than they're letting on to.

Gubernatorial Republican candidate Rick Scott is already pouncing on his opponent and fellow Republican Attorney General Bill McCollum, who could be depositioned in the case and/or removed as the lead prosecutor.

Scott said in a press release, "These latest revelations coupled with what already had been public knowledge raises serious questions about what McCollum knew, when he knew it and why did he fail to act earlier."

"I think McCollum has got a real problem because of the fact that he's running against a guy that has millions of millions of millions of dollars and can take an incident like that and just build it into something," said Lou Frey, a Republican analyst.

Republican Chair John Thrasher wasted no time firing an e-mail blast in response to Scott.

In it, Thrasher said, "When evidence of the wrongdoing, Jim Greer has now been indicted for was presented to us, Attorney General McCollum acted swiftly to refer our findings to the proper authorities."

Obviously no one wants to be associated with Greer, and all of this fighting could mean bad news for the Republican Party.

"You’ve got a big divide on that thing and very little time to put the party back together and the election is August 24," Frey said.

So far, Independent Charlie Crist is staying far away from the man he hand-picked to lead the Republican Party.

Crist is still leading Republican opponent Marc Rubio, but Republicans need a win.

The Senate seat could go to Crist. The divide within the party might mean Alex Sink could pull out a victory in the race for governor.

"This especially could be a bad year for Republicans and this should have been our year," Frey said.

But until some smoking gun is uncovered in the Greer case, expect Republicans to steer clear of the scandal.

News 13 spoke to Greer's attorney Wednesday, who said he still has not made the official request to start the depositions, but expects to do so in the next couple of weeks.

He still maintains that he wants the taped depositions to be done before the primary election on August 24.