TALLAHASSEE ? A legal spat between former First Coast Tea Party Chairwoman Billie Tucker and a handful of well-heeled investors that helped fund her start-up conservative media organization now involves a Republican congressional candidate.
Documents recently filed by the investors ask a Jacksonville federal court to require Tucker to ?compel? her top consultant to hand over documents they say he is withholding. The consultant, Orlando resident Clyde Fabretti, says he has nothing more to offer and the investors are on a witch hunt.
The new court filings, for the first time, also rope GOP congressional candidate Ron DeSantis into the messy legal fight. Investors say he served as the company?s general counsel, a claim both DeSantis and a company attorney say is overblown.
As part of a much larger request, attorneys representing the investors are seeking all communications DeSantis had with Tucker?s company. She has turned over thousands of pages but objected to turning over the DeSantis communications, citing attorney-client privilege.
In 2011, Tucker started Big Voices Media LLC. She envisioned it as a counter-balance to current media outlets that ?lie, distort and manipulate the truth in politics,? according to the company?s business plan. The firm?s website currently calls itself a ?beta? or test site.
The investors involved in the lawsuit said Tucker unilaterally increased the number of top investors bankrolling Big Voices. Investors said the move devalued skin they already had in the game.
Nine groups of early investors poured $250,000 into the network. Three, with a total investment of $100,000, are involved in the lawsuit.
In what those investors called a ?race to the courthouse,? Tucker filed a lawsuit first. She was seeking to have the court rule that the investors could not have their money back.
There has been a dizzying array of motions and counterclaims filed since. In the motion seeking documents from Fabretti, who is not a party to the lawsuit, investors? attorneys say that Tucker?s ?failure to request? documents from him is part of a legal strategy.
?Big Voices and Billie Tucker have attempted to maximize the burden and expense of litigation for the defendants in the case,? he wrote.
Robert Fojo, who represents Tucker and the company, says his clients have no means to get documents from Fabretti.
?He has a contract with the company for business consulting services; that?s the extent of his involvement,? Fojo said.
In the motion, investors? attorneys said they tried to subpoena documents at Fabretti?s Orlando home but he ?has been avoiding service.?
Fabretti said that any documents he has were included in the thousands of pages already turned over to investors? attorneys. He laughed at the idea he was ducking being served the subpoena.
?I?m very involved with the Tea Party and help organize tons of events,? he said. ?It?s funny that they come knock on my door, I?m not there, and they think I?m avoiding being served.?
In a request sent to Big Voices attorneys on May 25, the investors made 56 separate document requests, including for all communications between Big Voices and DeSantis. In response, Fojo said they have turned over roughly 3,000 pages and are preparing to turn over thousands more, but none are related to DeSantis because those are protected under attorney-client privilege.
That document request was filed with the court on Sept. 21. That move publicly tied DeSantis? name to the case for the first time just over two months before November?s general election. The St. Johns County resident is running for the newly drawn 6th Congressional District, which includes St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler, and Volusia counties.
Fojo thinks the timing was no coincidence.
?One month [before the election] they include his name in motion to compel? I suppose, you know, one could argue they were trying to exact some pressure on my clients,? said Fojo, who graduated from Harvard Law School with DeSantis and owns an LSAT preparation company with him.
DeSantis, who is not a listed party in the lawsuit, said that he is no longer involved with the company and never received a dime from Big Voices.
?I provided pro bono legal services ? contract/agreement drafting,? DeSantis said in an email. ?I was not involved in the business side and never received any compensation for my assistance.?
The company?s website includes an interview with DeSantis, a video of him speaking about his book, and video of him interviewing former GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich.
Fojo said there was never a formal agreement or contract between Tucker and DeSantis.
Source: http://staugustine.com/news/local-news/2012-10-05-3
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