Bill McCollum says his campaign for governor learned about Rick Scott's string of Fifth Amendment non-answers in 10-year-old deposition in a Columbia/HCA civil case from a supporter who's a "prominent attorney in Central Florida" but not linked to the firm that deposed Scott. At a campaign stop at Gulf Breeze Bait and Tackle Saturday, McCollum declined to reveal the tipster's identity to reporters.

"You actually know the name of the tipster, but I can't tell you," McCollum said. "It came from somebody I've known a long time ... somebody who's aware of the deposition." Scott's campaign expressed outrage at McCollum's tactics, noting Scott had long left Columbia/HCA when he was deposed in July 2000 in a contract dispute involving computer software. The hospital conglomerate was being investigated for Medicare fraud at the time.

Scott's decision based on legal advice to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 75 times conforms to what McCollum calls "a pattern that he has not been forthcoming." He didn't debate McCollum on live statewide TV, avoided editorial boards and repeatedly has refused to disclose a deposition in a now-settled case that involved Solantic, a health care company Scott founded.

"I've never taken the Fifth Amendment," Florida's attorney general said. "People don't take the Fifth Amendment unless they're involved in a case that might lead to potential criminal liability. That's why you take the Fifth. Otherwise you just answer the questions."