By Javier Manjarres

The bribery allegations made against Congressman Cliff Stearns by Clay County Clerk of Courts James Jett, are now being questioned by freshman Congressman Rich Nugent.  Nugent, who says that he does not personally know Jett and has been told that Jett is an upstanding citizen and viable candidate in his congressional race said that,” I have a hard time believing it because Stearns has 2 1/2 million plus in the bank.”  The ‘it’ Nugent is referring to is the allegation that Stearns tried to bribe Jett to leave the congressional primary race that Stearns himself is running in.  While Nugent did not elaborate much further into the issue, he did say that “being and 24 year incumbent is not a strong position.”

Several months back, Stearns was reportedly eyeing Nugent’s congressional district and looking towards a primary matchup with Nugent, very similar to Congressman John Mica current primary challenge of Congresswoman Sandy Adams.