Quo Warranto Exhibits in Petition Against Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum

Tampa Attorney Barry Cohen issued this press release announcing the filing of a State Supreme Court petition challenging Florida Attorney General and Republican Candidate for State Governor, Bill McCollum,  alleging that he received political campaign contributions from WellCare, party to a Medicaid fraud case, in exchange for  a lenient price tag for the settlement of the case.

The petition is what is called a quo warranto.  First of the writs extraordinaire, which can operate as an oversight mechanism, is when a citizen, in possession of the unenumerated right of the writ, in this case information of Medicaid fraud, goes forth, on behalf of the state, to challenge the authority of an individual holding public office or functioning in official capacity of the state, by petitioning the Attorney General to bring forth an action in the Supreme Court.

As Bill McCollum is the State Attorney General and subject of the quo warranto, that would be an inherent conflict of interest.

This conflict of interest triggers an activation argument, which is what gives this particular quo warranto significant weight in setting precedence with the substantive subject matter of Medicaid fraud within the States Medicaid Fraud Control Units.

Quo Warranto Exhbits in Petition Against Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum