Jacob Ogles
Gubernatorial candidate James Fishback has continued to ignore demands from a federal Judge about disclosing financial information.
Delays come months after Fishback, in a civil case with ex-employer Greenlight Capital, was ordered to turn over company stock certificates to the U.S. Marshals Service, along with details on a slate of luxury purchases.
U.S. District Judge Martin Fitzpatrick has ordered Fishback, a Madison Republican, to provide information in court proceedings by June 18 on a Cartier watch purchased from Bucherer for about $7,500, a Tesla Model 3, and two bank accounts.
But no information was filed by the deadline last week. Now, the Judge is expected on Monday, June 22, to take action on the matter.
“The Court may grant a motion ‘by default’ if Plaintiff ‘does not file a memorandum as required by this rule,’” he said.
Fishback previously worked as an analyst for Greenlight, a hedge fund, before launching his own Azoria Partners brand in Florida and Azoria Capital in Washington, D.C. The two parted and ended up in litigation, with a Judge last year ordering Fishback to turn over stock.
Multiple deadlines to satisfy that demand have passed, leading Greenlight to file repeated motions in court demanding information from Fishback. That has clearly sometimes irritated Fitzpatrick, with the Judge still pressing Fishback to comply.
“The motion to compel appears to be focused on expediency rather than efficiency. It appears that Plaintiff is content to keep returning to this Court and filing additional motions to compel to obtain discovery or property from the Defendant,” Fitzpatrick wrote in a court order on June 8. “That is not the most efficient process for the Court, but it perhaps simplifies things.”
Fishback, meanwhile, has not filed anything in the ongoing dispute. He also did not reply to a request from Florida Politics for comment on this article.
Fishback has continued to actively campaign for Governor, including engaging in a high-profile battle with the Republican Primary of Florida. After the state party canceled a debate at the Sunshine State Showdown over most candidates’ poor showing in polls, the party briefly offered Fishback a speaking slot at the event on stage, but canceled it after other participants objected to Fishback’s history of racist rhetoric.
