Rick Scott Refuses To Say Whether He Knew Execution Delay Was For A Fundraiser

WASHINGTON -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) refused to say on Tuesday whether he knew that the state attorney general requested delaying a condemned man's execution last year because it conflicted with her own political fundraiser.

Pressed on the delay during a debate Tuesday by his Democratic opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, Scott sidestepped the question.

“She asked me to delay it because it didn’t work with the dates that she thought it was going be on,” Scott said. “She apologized. What would you like her to do?”

Scott postponed the execution of murderer Marshall Lee Gore by three weeks at the request of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). Bondi later apologized, and told the Tampa Bay Times “the planned execution of Marshall Lee Gore had already been stayed twice by the courts, and we absolutely should not have requested that the date of the execution be moved." Gore was put to death Oct. 1, 2013.

Scott told the Tampa Bay Times last year that he did not know the reason for the attorney general's request, but declined to say whether he considered a political fundraiser an appropriate reason for a delay.