Former Candidate Defends Work History Claims

BROOKSVILLE - Jim King may no longer be a Congressional candidate, but he nevertheless is trying to answer questions about whether he has been truthful about his background.

Hernando Today reported Thursday that King, a Land O'Lakes Republican, was abandoning the race for the 5th District seat held by U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite. The reason, according to King, was what he has described as a painful back condition that had limited his mobility.

But reporters had already started asking questions about aspects of his past.

On Thursday, a story in The St. Petersburg Times noted several apparently inaccurate statements King has made about his employment history. The story said King was bailing from the race because of the evidence that called his honesty into question.

King disputed that Thursday and said the article "paints a picture (that) is not 100 percent correct."

"The issue is my back," King, 53, said in an e-mail exchange with Hernando Today in which he offered documents to try to back up his claims about his work history in the medical field.

Either way, the discrepancies in King's past would have provided Brown-Waite with plenty of potential ammunition in a primary fight. The two were the only Republicans in the race.

During the campaign, King has called himself a semi-retired professor in the medical field.

On Thursday, King provided copy of a page from a course catalog listing classes offered in Naples through the Institute of Health Professionals. The catalog showed "James King" listed as the instructor of a course titled "Intermediate Spanish For Medical Personnel." There was no date on the page; King said it was in 1996.

He also provided a pay stub from Northern Virginia Community College from February of 1999 that described him as "ADJ FAC," or adjunct faculty member. There was no indication, however, of what courses he taught

He disputes that he ever worked as dean for the University of Seychelles Institute of American Medicine, located in a chain of islands off the east coast of Africa, and that he was fired from the position. University President Fauzia Alkhairy told the Times that she fired King from the dean position after six months in 2001 after finding inconsistencies in his background.

King says he worked at the university as a "post-graduate director," hired "to advertise, promote and find students looking to do postgraduate study." He maintains that he was never fired. King said he would provide further details only on a "one-on-one" basis. A message left at the university was not immediately returned.

In 2001, King told noted physician and relief worker Suraya Sadeed that he was a doctor and volunteered to help her provide medical care to poor children in Afghanistan, according to a story about Sadeed's work that was published in 2002 in the Los Angeles Times Magazine.

King told Sadeed he was licensed as a doctor in both Florida and New York, freelance reporter Michael Lerner wrote. Lerner could find no records with the Florida and New York boards of health to corroborate that. The American Medical Association also had no record of him.

Reporters have since been unable to find any evidence that King received his medical certification. King told Hernando Today "there is some truth (to the Lerner story) and another side of the story."

He said he could provide a copy of that certification but said he would do so only if it would "be kept confidential until I say otherwise." Hernando Today declined those terms.

King said he has done "clinical rotations" in the United Kingdom, but did not provide specifics or documents to back up the claim. He said he never registered with the AMA.

As well, the L.A. Times story notes that King gave to Sadeed as a reference then-U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman. Thurman is now chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party. A party spokesman said Thursday she does not remember King asking or her granting permission to do so.

When pressed for more details about these and other facets of his past, King said he would provide "the balance of the documents and information when I am better," meaning when his back condition improves.

At least one other issue that surfaced during a background check could have become a liability for King during the campaign: He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1995. King did not respond to an e-mail query Thursday about the bankruptcy and did not return a call seeking comment.

Whatever prompted King to exit the race, his departure means Brown-Waite will automatically move onto the general election to face off against the winner of three Democratic candidates. King's name will still be on the ballot because the ballots have already been sent to the printer, Hernando County Elections Supervisor Annie Williams said.

Brown-Waite, who was elected in 2002, said she thinks King abandoned not because of back trouble but because the questions about his background would have torpedoed any chance he may have had.

"I think the back problem is his back was up against the wall," Brown-Waite said. "He's gotten away with one lie after another, and it's caught up with him."

When asked about how she thought the dynamic of her campaign would change now that she has no primary opponent, Brown-Waite said, "Let me put it this way: I won't be debating someone who can't tell the truth."

Tampa Tribune researcher Melanie Coon contributed to this report.