DNC member paid by Greene before endorsing him

When a Democratic National Committee member sent an e-mail asking whom he should support in the Democratic Senate primary, at least one result came quickly.

The DNC member, Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, received a check the next day from the campaign of billionaire candidate Jeff Greene, hiring Ausman for political consultation and strategy.

Six days after that, Ausman announced his endorsement in another e-mail: He was endorsing Greene.

He signed the endorsement e-mail as a DNC member but didn't mention that he was being paid by Greene. He says he provided 35,000 e-mail addresses in exchange for the money.

Ausman said Wednesday that he had already planned to support Greene before being paid by him and that he plans to make it clear in the future that he is a paid consultant.

"Frankly I liked Greene from the word get go," said Ausman, who received national attention in 2008 for challenging the DNC's decision to strip Florida of its delegates as punishment for holding an early presidential primary.

Asked why he asked people to take the survey if he already supported Greene, Ausman said it was because he wanted to make sure there wasn't an "overwhelmingly negative response" to Greene's candidacy.

Ausman said he was also one of the few people who donated to the Greene campaign, writing a check below $200, the amount at which Greene must list donors.

"God bless him," Ausman said. "His check to me was bigger than the one I sent him."

Greene has spent about $6 million of his own money on the campaign while accepting $3,036 in donations.

"The endorsement of Ausman was very welcome but we also wanted to tap into his experience," said Luis Vizcaino, a Greene spokesman.

Vizcaino said Ausman told the campaign he planned to endorse Greene before Greene paid him. Vizcaino acknowledged, however, that Ausman didn't publicly endorse the candidate until after the check was written.