GOP's Martinez lobbied Pentagon on behalf of big donor

Sen. Mel Martinez’s office repeatedly intervened in a 2007 legal dispute between the Defense Department and a company owned by a top Republican fundraiser who is now at the center of a campaign-finance investigation, according to records obtained by The Miami Herald.

In a series of phone calls and e-mails, a Martinez aide urged Pentagon contract officers to seek a “fair resolution” to $14 million in contract claims sought by the International Oil Trading Co., a fuel-supply company co-owned by Harry Sargeant III of Boca Raton.

At one point, Pentagon officials told the senator’s office it was “not appropriate” to discuss any settlements while the company’s lawsuit was pending in court, records show.

As Martinez’s staffer was lobbying the Pentagon, Sargeant and his wife donated $50,000 to the Republican National Committee — then headed by Martinez. At the time, Sargeant was the finance chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

Miami Herald