Gov. Rick Scott says his new "Project Sunburst" is an unprecedented act of transparency. But one political watcher says Scott appears to be taking lessons in communication from the mafia.
Scott recently started publishing all his e-mails and those of his top lieutenants online for the public to see.
"Project Sunburst" comes after a minor scandal where his e-mails were improperly destroyed during his transition to power.
But the man behind the award-winning St. Petersblog is skeptical. Political consultant Peter Schorsch says Scott's move just means he and his staff are not conducting important business by e-mail.
"It almost reminds me of the scene from Goodfellas where the mob boss says he doesn't take any phone calls," he said.
"I'm not saying the governor's office is doing anything illicit here. But it's interesting they've taken a page from some mafiasos in the movies."
Schorsch says Scott's staff communicate via text messages and the old-fashioned face-to-face meetings instead.
He also says the e-mail transparency is having a chilling effect on reporters, who are less likely to e-mail the governor or his staff for fear of alerting their competition about their stories.
