Tallahassee, Florida - The State Ethics Commission has decided there is probable cause that State Senator Jim Norman violated ethics rules. It involves a half million dollar house Norman's wife bought with the lobbyist Ralph Hughes.
Norman initially insisted he had no knowledge of his wife's deal with Hughes, who used to lobby before Hillsborough County Commission when Norman was a commissioner.
That's why Norman said he never declared anything about the Arkansas home. The ethics commission says there is probable cause on three charges against Norman. The Commission said the three other charges did not hold water and dropped them.
"As I said all along I never did anything wrong, tried to cross every T dot every I and do everything right. Basically it is a reporting issue and the serious charges were dropped and I'm happy about that" said Senator Norman.
"No that's not correct. What the commission ruled is he received an indirect gift, it wasn't just accounting" said George Niemann, a civic activist who filed the ethics complaint. Niemann maintains that no one believes that Hughes formed a partnership with Norman's wife and gave her a $500,000 loan to buy the Arkansas property.
"Because it is like the O.J. case, we all know what he did it, he' just denying it and the people in that room are too smart for a subterfuge like that" says Niemann.
Norman will now have to either sign a consent order admitting he violated ethics laws or undergo a public hearing. In either case it could have implications for his political future. He has already drawn a challenger in the Republican primary for his Senate Senate seat and no doubt the ethics issues will come up.