--- title: Rick Scott's Latest Scandals Look Like The Read Deal description: The Florida governor has been questioned about his investment in a natural gas company and his aide's involvement in a rail project. canonical: https://time.com/3023740/rick-scott-scandal-florida-governor/ author: Michael Grunwald article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-23T15:44:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T09:18:02.205Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rick Scott's Latest Scandals Look Like The Read Deal og:description: The Florida governor has been questioned about his investment in a natural gas company and his aide's involvement in a rail project. og:url: https://time.com/3023740/rick-scott-scandal-florida-governor/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte305ba2274e538fd/69868d87d0b6f21cc0304179/rick-scott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Rick Scott, Will Weayherford og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rick Scott's Latest Scandals Look Like The Read Deal twitter:description: The Florida governor has been questioned about his investment in a natural gas company and his aide's involvement in a rail project. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte305ba2274e538fd/69868d87d0b6f21cc0304179/rick-scott.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Governor Rick Scott Shows What a Real Scandal Looks Like > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Michael Grunwald](https://time.com/author/michael-grunwald/) ## Michael Grunwald Jul 23, 2014 3:44 PM UTC  Gov. Rick Scott, left, and house speaker Will Weatherford speak at a news conference after session on Thursday, May 1, 2014, in Tallahassee, Fla. Gov. Rick Scott, left, and house speaker Will Weatherford speak at a news conference after session on Thursday, May 1, 2014, in Tallahassee, Fla. Steve Cannon—AP by [Michael Grunwald](https://time.com/author/michael-grunwald/) ## Michael Grunwald Jul 23, 2014 3:44 PM UTC A few months ago, I [wrote about](http://time.com/44288/rick-scott-mike-fernandez-duke-mitch-mcconnell/) an epidemic of fake Republican scandals that Democrats were hyping for 2014, starting with a nothingburger of a whatever-gate involving Florida Governor Rick Scott. My point was that political scandals rarely get traction, and shouldn’t get traction, without a semi-plausible link to significant public policies. Let me put it a different way: Damaging scandals look more like the two latest messes involving Governor Scott. The first involves Scott’s support for a controversial Miami-to-Orlando rail project known as All Aboard Florida, when the company pushing it [had financial ties to his chief of staff](http://cltampa.com/politicalanimal/archives/2014/07/08/mitch-perry-report-7-8-14-the-scott-administration-feels-the-heat-regarding-all-aboard-florida#.U8-5iq1dVdq). The second involves Scott’s support for a controversial natural gas pipeline to North Florida, when [he owned a stake in the company building it](http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/21/4247099/gov-scott-had-stake-in-pipeline.html%20). You probably haven’t heard about these messes, because they’re pretty obscure. They’re also mini-messes, especially for Scott, who was once CEO of a hospital chain that paid a record $1.7 billion fine for fraud committed on his watch. What could turn these messes into scandals is their potential link to public policies—in particular, to lame and unpopular policies that could look even worse if Scott’s probable opponent, Republican-turned-Independent-turned-Democrat Charlie Crist, can frame them as corrupt policies. There’s nothing inherently wrong with government support for a train linking Miami and Orlando—though my pal Carl Hiaasen is [not an All Aboard Florida fan](//www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/19/4243376/carl-hiaasen-florida-taxpayers.html)—but it looks pretty sketchy after Governor Scott (at the urging of his conflicted chief of staff) [rejected $2.4 billion in federal money](//swampland.time.com/2011/02/16/floridas-rick-scott-sends-high-speed-rail-packing/) for a high-speed rail project that would have eventually linked Miami, Orlando and Tampa. Similarly, there’s a case to be made for a natural gas pipeline to Florida, but it’s hard to square with Scott’s support for utilities waging [an outrageous war to prevent homeowners](http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/utilities-will-ask-psc-for-permission-to-gut-energy-saving-goals/2189192) from going solar in the Sunshine State. Asking questions about an opponent’s record can be good politics, but answering them can be even better politics. It’s one thing to ask why Scott rejected federal money for a shovel-ready high-speed train that promised 27,000 jobs and enjoyed strong support from Florida’s business community; it’s another thing to suggest that Scott was clearing the way for his crony’s speculative slow-speed train. It’s one thing to ask why the Sunshine State is intentionally skipping [a nationwide solar revolution](http://time.com/2826289/the-green-revolution-is-here/) that is reducing carbon emissions while saving ratepayers money; it’s another thing to suggest that Scott has a personal interest in pushing gas instead. Scott will have a dramatic financial advantage in the fall, and it’s not clear whether voters will accept Crist’s latest political change of clothes, especially in what’s shaping up as a Republican year. But Scott is unpopular—he’s still best known as the Medicare fraud guy—and so are his policies. The challenge for Democrats is to link the personal to the political. 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