Crist Denies Trysts II

Sworn testimony backs up claims that Bruce Jordan boasted of his affair with Charlie Crist.

By Bob Norman

Bruce Carlton Jordan arrives at the Possum festival.

A videotaped sworn statement has surfaced that bolsters the contention
that Florida Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie
Crist had a recent romantic relationship with a convicted felon and former
travel aide to U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris.

Last week, I reported that 21-year-old GOP staffer Jason Wetherington had
claimed to credible sources that he had a sexual relationship with the
50-year-old Crist and had identified the frontrunner's "long-term
partner" as Bruce Carlton Jordan, who remains on state probation after
serving a 30-day jail sentence for a conviction on grand theft and forgery
charges.

Crist has repeatedly denied that he is gay and, with the election looming
next week, has recently become more vocal in his stance against adoption by
gay couples and in support of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban
gay marriage.

Crist's campaign spokeswoman, Vivian Myrtetus, responded to my questions
with an e-mail: "Wild, false rumors like this one are a sad commentary
on the politics of personal destruction which is so hurtful to the political
process," she wrote. "This is a completely false story a convicted
felon."

Evidence, however, is piling up that he and Jordan, whom the GOP
candidate claims not to remember ever having met, had a relationship and
that his Republican opponent Tom Gallagher knew about it prior to the
September 5 primary vote.

Much of the information surrounding the relationship came, unwittingly
and somewhat ironically, from the Harris U.S. Senate campaign, where Jordan
worked as the congresswoman's personal travel aide not long after his
release from jail in February.

It was while he was employed in that capacity that another traveler on
the Harris campaign, Dee Dee Hall, befriended him. In a videotaped statement
that I obtained over the weekend, Hall swears that Jordan confided to her
that he had an ongoing romantic relationship with Crist.

On the tape, Hall sits in a sharply collared blue blouse and talks about
a Fourth of July outing with Harris on the wealthy island enclave of John's
Island near Vero Beach.

Hall's attendance at the private party was a perk of traveling with her
boyfriend, Jay Vass, who was the pilot for Harris' U.S. Senate campaign at
the time.

As the evening wore on, Hall says that she began talking with Jordan,
whom she had already befriended on the campaign trail, about romantic
relationships. She says she wanted to set up Jordan, whom she knew to be
gay, with a friend.

"He said that he was involved with Charlie," she says on the
tape after she was sworn in by a court reporter. "I was like, 'OK.' He
just stated his first name. He said, 'Maybe you've heard of him.' He said
Charlie Crist."

She then asked Jordan what it was like to have a romantic relationship
with "such a public figure."

"And he said... Charlie was apparently having some issues with that
and trying to keep it under wraps and just trying to deal with it in
general, you know," she said, later adding that Jordan seemed troubled
that Crist was seeking counseling. "He was kind of quiet about it after
that point, like he was concerned about Charlie's decision to seek
counseling."

I couldn't reach Hall for comment, but Vass, who is well-known in state
Republican circles, confirmed that she gave the statement and said that
Jordan also confided in him about the relationship.

Vass has been a pilot for top Republican politicians in Florida for
nearly a decade. He's flown Gov. Jeb Bush, most every member of the state
Cabinet, and a veritable who's who of GOP bigs, including Crist, whom Vass
knows personally. His company, Celtic Air, is represented by major
Tallahassee lobbyist Wilbur Brewton.

Speaking from his manufacturing company's office in Live Oak, Vass not
only confirmed Hall's sworn statement but also added that Jordan had told
him of his romantic relationship with Crist as well and that he too had
given a sworn statement to that effect.

"It's the truth," said Vass.

Vass, who is a registered Republican, said that while he was serving as
the pilot for the Harris campaign this summer, he spent many hours with
Jordan. He said that during that time, Jordan told him and other Harris
staffers that he was dating Crist.

The pilot also said that Jordan and other Harris staffers were
matter-of-fact about the relationship and treated as a fact that Crist is
gay. He recounted the evening of June 20, when he was at the Blue Martini
bar in Tampa with Jordan and Harris campaign scheduler Jennifer DeBord.

Vass said that DeBord was aware of the relationship - and had seen e-mail
exchanges between Jordan and Crist — and that the 42-year-old Jordan
admitted it to him.

"I couldn't believe they were so open about it," says Vass.
"I asked him, 'Aren't you afraid of this coming out?' And Jordan said,
'It will come out sooner or later, and just as long as long as it comes out
after the election, I don't care.'

"Everybody knew that Charlie was gay and what absolutely floored me
about it was they made no attempt to hide it or disguise it."

When reached at the Harris campaign office, DeBord denied having any
knowledge about Jordan and Crist. "I have no knowledge of
anything," she said, obviously perturbed at the questions. "I know
nothing about that. It is not my business."

Vass, meanwhile, happens to be a very good friend of state Chief
Financial Officer Tom Gallagher, who was Crist's opponent in the primary.
Not only has Vass flown Gallagher on campaign stops, but he has also given
the politician flying lessons, and the two men have considered business
ventures together.