Dunbar pointed out that, as soon as the complaint against Haridopolos was filed by Vero Beach retiree Eugene "Bucky" Benson, Haridopolos corrected his forms and didn't fight the commission.

In an email to reporters, Benson had little good to say about the process. He accused Haridopolos of being "deliberately devious" in his complaint. And he thinks the ethics process isn't much better:

"The biggest farce in the world is that Dec.3  Ethics Commision session. The Florida legislature snookered Florida taxpayers into thinking that it governs "in the sunshine" and the Ethics Commission is the taxpayer's watchdog. A former Commission Chairman characterized the  Haridopolos non-compliances as minor bookkeeping errors.
 
"Firstly: anyone who challenges a legislator's financial disclosure is immediately disadvantaged by the following statute: 34-8.009  Amended Filing.

"(1)  A person may amend his or her full and public disclosure of financial interests to add to or modify the information reported on the form as originally filed at any time after filing the  disclosure form.  The amended filing shall be filed with the same office where the original form was filed and shall be on the form prescribed by the Commission, CE Form 6X, adopted by reference in Rule 34-7.010, F.A.C.

"Amended filing is precisely what keeps Haridopolos from any penalty, even though his non-compliances were patently fraudulent, devious and 5 years in the making.
 
"Secondly: The disclosure form (Form 6) requires sworn statement as to the verity of information provided; 5 years in a row Haridopolos "swore" that his information was truthful and complete. Elsewhere in the statutes is the following:
 
"Section 817.155, Florida Statutes, states that it is a third-degree felony to sign a document he or she knows is false in any material respect.
 
"Strangely, 817.155 does not apply to Legislators and Ethics  Commission personnel - unless some lawyer attempts to prosecute such personnel under that statute.
 
"Unknown to average citizens, Florida lawmakers are raking in millions in special interest political contributions through Committees of Continuing Existence. No oversight by anyone!
 
"The NY Times reported (12/13/08) that Florida was the most corrupt of  50 states analyzed for the period 1997-2000, with 824 officials found guilty in federal courts; Texas was second with 704.
 
"A Press Journal Opinion (11/10/10) identified the Florida Legislature at a rank of 26 in the Center for Public Releases Report of 2009; i.e.- 25 states were better and 24 were worse in their financial disclosure activities.
 
"No further comments are needed."