How many times am I going to be able to say “I TOLD YOU SO,” in regards to what is now being discovered in a Tallahassee courtroom about the process in which the 2012 redistricting maps were drawn?

The Tampa Bay Times, who was in the courtroom, has this posting about the “secret meeting” and deal between Speaker Will Weatherford, Senate President Gaetz, and couple of others, the Shark Tank first reported on in January of 2012.

Senate President Don Gaetz testified under oath Wednesday that it was “entirely proper” for him to meet in secret with House Speaker Will Weatherford to reach a deal over a congressional map as part of the Legislature’s once-a-decade redistricting process.

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Gaetz, R-Niceville, who along with Weatherford was chairman of his chamber’s redistricting maps in 2011-12, told the court that he and Weatherford met twice and agreed to settle on the Senate’s map design for the final joint congressional map, including a provision that boosted the number of black voters in the meandering congressional District 5, a Democrat-majority district that slices through dozens of towns to collect black voters from Jacksonville to Orlando.

“It was entirely proper, it was entirely ordinary that we would meet as two committee chairs to work out differences,” Gaetz said during more than three hours of testimony.

The entire congressional map, particularly District 5, is being challenged as unconstitutional by a coalition of voters led by the League of Women Voters. They contend that map violates the “Fair Districts” standards added to the state Constitution by voters in 2010, which say districts may not be drawn to protect incumbents or political parties.

The plaintiffs claim the redistricting process was “conducted in the shadows with the secret involvement of partisan operatives with key decisions being made by a tiny group of legislators and staff behind closed doors” to give Republicans the advantage.

Of course Republican legislators deny any wrong-doing, but just a day before Gaetz gave his  testimony, Kirk Pepper, a top aide to then-Speaker Dean Cannon, admitted to the court that he leaked the redistricting maps to one of his consultant friends.

And then there are the 538 pages of information from GOP consultant Pat Bainter, which are being called into question. Bainter’s attorney fees are being paid by the state Republican Party.

Bainter, whose legal bills are being financed by the Republican Party of Florida, argues that the documents are trade secrets and should not be allowed.

Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis has ruled the documents are relevant but Bainter’s lawyers claim that if they are used they should be sealed and the courtroom closed.

Why would these documents, in order to be viewed, need to be sealed and the courtroom be closed?

And then there are the deleted redistricting-related emails.

Meanwhile, plaintiffs have shown that both Gaetz and Weatherford allowed for redistricting-related emails to be deleted, even though legislators expected that their maps would be challenged in court. Gaetz was asked about the policy Wednesday by plaintiffs attorney David King.

“I’m not sure I know how to delete emails,” Gaetz replied, and if they were deleted it was “not by me.”

Nice try Gaetz. How dumb does he think the court, Floridians, and all Americans are to believe that he does not know how to delete an email?

Here are some of the related postings about this scandal.

Allen West is Screwed

Allen West-“No One Ambushes Me”