This time its Florida:
It has been more than two years since news first broke that Rush Limbaugh had an addiction to painkillers.
That news led to a criminal investigation of Limbaugh by Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer, who in December 2003 leaked to the media that his office had uncovered evidence of 10 felony counts, including "doctor shopping," money laundering and drug trafficking. Despite the sensational allegations, no charges have been brought.
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Apparently, Limbaugh's medical records have not satisfied Krischer. A frustrated Roy Black, Limbaugh's attorney, said in response to the latest skirmish: "They cannot force Mr. Limbaugh to supply their evidence for them."
Black argued that confidentiality between a doctor and a patient is a privilege that even criminal investigators cannot penetrate. Judge Crow seemed to agree, telling Martz: "The statue says . .. categorically that the physician shall not discuss or cannot discuss the condition of a patient absent a written waiver. Period."
Since 2003, the state has been investigating allegations that Limbaugh illegally stocked up on prescription pain pills from several doctors, a third-degree felony called "doctor shopping."
Black has characterized the prosecutors' efforts as a "fishing expedition," and suggested that Limbaugh is being singled out because of his conservative political views.
Black said in an interview, when asked if Rush was being singled out: "Of all the millions of people addicted to painkillers, have you ever seen their doctors being subpoenaed? . . . They're trying to publicly embarrass him and ruin his radio program."
In fact, the Palm Beach Post, a paper with a strong anti-Limbaugh editorial bent, noted in March 2004 that doctor shopping has very rarely been prosecuted in this State Attorney's jurisdiction.
Black also made the point that it's almost unheard of for prosecutors to charge addicts with a crime after they go through rehabilitation.
Soon after publicly admitting his addiction, Limbaugh went public with his problem and entered an Arizona facility. He successfully completed the program and has been on the air broadcasting ever since.
Limbaugh also revealed that his addiction began after he underwent corrective back surgery and his doctor prescribed painkillers.
"Normally, people with drug dependencies who acknowledge their problems and seek treatment are lauded for their courage, not prosecuted," Black wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
But what does Krischer due when the issue involves a billionaire Democrat, Jeffrey Epstein:
Epstein's friendship with Clinton has attracted the most attention.
Epstein met Clinton as early as 1995, when he paid tens of thousands of dollars to join him at an intimate fund-raising dinner in Palm Beach. But from all appearances, they did not become close friends until after Clinton left the Oval Office and moved to New York.
Epstein has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates' campaigns, including John Kerry's presidential bid, the reelection campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the Senate bids of Joe Lieberman, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Christopher Dodd and Charles Schumer.
Here is how Kirscher handled the allegations that Epstein was having sex with minors:
Palm Beach police say their 11-month investigation shows that 53-year-old part-time town resident Jeffrey Epstein committed unlawful sex acts with and lewd and lascivious molestation on five underage girls. Defense attorney Jack Goldberger claims that his client, Jeffrey Epstein, had no idea that the untrained girls he hired for massages were minors.
The Palm Beach Count State Attorney's Office could have let a jury decide whom to believe. Instead, State Attorney Barry Krischer left the public to wonder whether the system tilted in favor of a wealthy, well-connected alleged perpetrator and against very young girls who are alleged victims of sex crimes.
Mr. Krischer took the unusual step of referring the case to a grand jury, which last month indicted Jeffrey Epstein on one felony count of solicitation of prostitution.
So we have a Democrat Attorney General aggressively pursuing a conservative talk show personality by digging into his personal medical records and leaking them to the public for a charge he rarely persues. But when it is a friend of Bill Clinton’s, he does the unusual by going behind the closed doors of a grand jury. Is there politics at play here?
