dunmire lawsuit

8/9/2019 Dunmire Lawsuit

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IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE NINTH JUDICIAL CIRCUITIN AND FOR ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA

DON HENSARLING,

Petitioner,

vs. CASE NO.:

MARGARET DUNMIRE,

Respondent./

PETITION FOR PURE BILL OF DISCOVERY

Petitioner, Don Hensarling, files this Petition for Pure Bill of Discovery, suing the

Respondent, Margaret Dunmire, and in support thereof states as follows:

1. Petitioner is a citizen of Florida and a registered Republican voter in Florida.

2. Respondent is a resident of Orange County, Florida. Respondent has been

appointed the campaign treasurer for Tea Party candidate Juanita Virone who is seeking election

as a candidate for the Florida House of Representatives District 35 Seat in the November 2010

general election and for Tea Party Candidate Darrin Dunmire who is seeking election as a

candidate for the Florida House of Representatives District 40 Seat in the November 2010

general election.

3. Section 99.061(7)(a), Florida Statutes, requires a person running for office to file

specific forms with the appropriate filing officer during the qualifying period. The qualifying

period for legislative office began on June14, 2010, and ended at noon on June 18, 2010.

4. On June 18, 2010, Juanita Virone filed qualifying paperwork with the Division of

Elections along with a check for the filing fee in the amount of $1,781.82. True and exact copies


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of the documents filed with the Florida Division of Elections are attached hereto as Exhibit A

and incorporated herein by reference. On June 17, 2010, Darrin Dunmire filed qualifying

paperwork with the Division of Elections along with a check for the filing fee in the amount of

$1,781.82. True and exact copies of the documents filed with the Florida Division of Elections

are attached hereto as Exhibit B and incorporated herein by reference.

5. On the Forms DS-DE 9, Appointment of Campaign Treasurer and Designation of

Campaign Depository for Candidates, filed on June 17 and 18 by Juanita Virone and Darrin

Dunmire, Respondent was designated as campaign treasurer in their respective campaigns.

6. On June 16, 2010, Respondent signed a check drawn on Juanita Virones

campaign account to pay the filing fee to the Florida Department of State. On June 15, 2010,

Respondent signed a check drawn on Darrin Dunmires campaign account to pay the filing fee to

the Florida Department of State.

7. Based on information and belief, the first contributions into Juanita Virones

campaign account occurred on June 18, 2010 and the first contributions into Darrin Dunmi res

campaign account occurred on June 17, 2010.

8. Section 106.021(1)(a), Florida Statutes, provides in pertinent part that no person

shall accept any contribution or make any expenditure unless a campaign treasurer has been

appointed and a campaign depository designated. Section 106.11(4), Florida Statutes provides in

pertinent part that a candidate shall not authorize, and a campaign treasurer shall not sign, a

check drawn on the campaign account for any purpose unless there are funds on deposit to pay

the full amount of the expense.

9. Based on information and belief, Respondent, in violation of Sections

106.021(1)(a) and 106.11(4), Florida Statutes, signed the check drawn on Juanita Virones


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campaign account and the check drawn on Darrin Dunmires campaign account before the Forms

DS-DE 9 for those candidates were filed with the Department of State and at a time when no

funds had been deposited into either account. Pursuant to Section 106.19(1)(d), Florida Statutes

a violation of Section 106.11(4), Florida Statutes is a first degree misdemeanor which may be

punished by imprisonment and fine.

10. Based on information and belief, derived from articles published in the Orlando

Sentinel and quotes attributed to Respondent therein, Respondent has conspired with Florida Tea

Party founders and Democrat candidates to form the Florida Tea Party to be used as an enterprise

to recruit and pay persons to run as Tea Party candidates for Florida House of Representative

seats. Based upon information and belief, Respondent has actively participated in the alleged

conspiracy by providing funding to the Tea Party for the purpose of working a fraud on voters

who will be misled into believing that the Tea Party candidates represent conservative values

when in fact the true purpose behind the formation of the Tea Party is to aid Democrat

candidates by diverting votes from Republican candidates.

11. Petitioner seeks to obtain further evidence to establish:

a. That Respondent signed campaign checks at a time when there were

insufficient funds on deposit in the account to pay the full amount of the check in violation of

Section 106.11(4), Florida Statutes.

b. That Respondent and others conspired to form the Tea Party as an

enterprise that could be used as a fraud on voters to divert votes away from Republican

candidates for Florida House seats to the benefit of Democrat candidates and that Respondents

coconspirator accepted money from persons affiliated with the Democrat Party to form the Tea


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Party and provide filing fees for various Tea Party candidates in addition to paying persons to

run for office as a Tea Party candidate.

c. That Respondent provided money to the Tea Party to be used to pay the

filing fees for various Tea Party candidates and to make additional payments to certain Tea Party

candidates as compensation for their filing to run as Tea Party candidates.

12. Under section 106.25(2), Florida Statutes, an election complaint must be based

upon personal knowledge attested to by the complainant. Hearsay is insufficient.

13. Petitioner is unable to depose the Respondent or procure bank records in order to

obtain the personal knowledge required by Florida law without the discovery from the

Respondent requested in this Petition.

14. Petitioner intends to file an election complaint if the facts as alleged are supported

by the evidence and, if the facts as alleged on information and belief are supported by the

evidence, an action under Floridas Civil Remedies for Criminal Practices Act, Section 772.104,

Florida Statutes.

15. The Petitioner has no adequate remedy at law.

WHEREFORE, Petitioner respectfully requests that the Court enter an Order on this

application for a Pure Bill of Discovery allowing the Petitioner to discover any and all

documents relevant to the Respondent's campaign and personal bank accounts and allow the

Petitioner full use of all discovery methods provided by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure,

including deposition of Respondent, in an effort to discover the evidence supporting election law

violations and violations of Section 772.103, Florida Statutes.


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Harry O. Thomas (Fla. Bar No. 195097)Christopher B. Lunny (Fla. Bar No. 008982)

Radey Thomas Yon & Clark, P.A.301 S. Bronough Street, Suite 200Tallahassee, Florida 32301-1722Telephone: (850) 425-6654Facsimile: (850) 425-6694E-Mail: [email protected]: [email protected]

Richard E. Coates (Fla. Bar No. 930032)200 West College Avenue, Suite 311-BTallahassee, Florida 32301-7710

Telephone: (850) 681-1029E-Mail: [email protected]

ATTORNEYS FOR PETITIONERDON HENSARLING

dunmire lawsuit

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