KRISCHER - LIMBAUGH PROBE HURT BY STATE

WEST PALM BEACH - State Attorney Barry Krischer on Thursday accused
Attorney General Charlie Crist's office of trying to impede the Rush
Limbaugh prescription fraud investigation for political reasons.

Krischer expected Crist's office to file the state's response to
Limbaugh's appeal of a decision to unseal the commentator's medical
records in the prescription fraud case. Crist's office pulled out of
the appeal one hour before a Jan. 12 deadline imposed by the appeals
court, said Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for Krischer's office.

"We obviously think that was to put us into a position so we could not
respond," Edmondson said. A prosecutor from Krischer's office was able
to file the brief in time.

Joanne Carrin, spokeswoman for Crist, said the attorney general's
office is not involved in the Limbaugh case. "We don't know what he is
talking about," Carrin said. "It sounds ridiculous."

The accusation came a day after Crist's office criticized Krischer for
mischaracterizing advice it gave prosecutors last week regarding the
release of plea negotiations in the Limbaugh case.

Edmondson called the letter from Assistant Attorney General Patricia
Gleason "political."

Krischer is a Democrat, Crist a Republican and Limbaugh a conservative
icon for his radio shows.

Carrin couldn't say for sure if the attorney general's office pulled
out of writing the brief an hour before deadline, but she said the
office never represents state attorneys in civil appellate matters.
Limbaugh has yet to be charged criminally, and the motion to keep his
medical records sealed was filed in civil court.

"It's not the type of appeal we would be involved in," Carrin said.
"Regardless, if we offered any assistance or not, they filed a
response. We did not impede anything."

Assistant State Attorney James Martz ended up writing the appellate
brief so the office could make the deadline.

The investigation, meanwhile, remains static as the 4th District Court
of Appeal wrestles with whether to give prosecutors access to
Limbaugh's medical records.

Limbaugh, 53, came to prosecutors' attention when his former maid told
them she had provided thousands of illegal pain pills to him. He is
now under investigation for "doctor shopping" after records from a
pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion revealed he received more than
2,000 pain pills over five months.

Doctor shopping, a rarely charged felony punishable by up to five
years in prison, is when a patient dupes two or more physicians into
prescribing overlapping medications.

Limbaugh told listeners in October he was addicted to painkillers and
entered a five-week drug rehabilitation program. His attorney has said
the prescriptions were for intense back and ear pain.

Much of the news in the case surrounds Krischer's office's release
last week of letters from mid-December discussing plea negotiations in
the case. In the letters, Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, offered to
settle the case if his client could enter a pretrial intervention
program, which would entail a not-guilty plea. Krischer's office said
Limbaugh could receive probation but only if he pleaded guilty to
doctor shopping, an offer Limbaugh rejected.

Black has said releasing the letters was illegal and unethical and is
evidence of a media smear campaign against Limbaugh.

"It appears as if Mr. Krischer is trying to shift the focus from his
own actions," Black said Thursday.

In releasing the letters, Krischer's office provided a memo in which
Assistant State Attorney Ken Selvig detailed how Gleason, a public
records expert at the attorney general's office, informed him there
was no exemption for plea negotiations under public records law.
Krischer also called the Florida Bar, which Selvig said informed the
office it would be unethical to not release the letters.

Wednesday, Crist's office and the Bar said Krischer's office
misrepresented their advice.

Black on Thursday again called for the "appropriate authorities" to
investigate Krischer for planting false stories in the press.

"The fact is, Mr. Krischer tried to mislead the public regarding the
advice his office received from the Florida Bar and the attorney
general's office, both of which have made it clear that he
misrepresented what they said," Black said.