  In 2001, the state Ethics Commission investigated whether
Crist, then Florida's education commissioner, violated gift laws
by accepting a flight to Washington on a developer's corporate
jet. The commission ultimately cleared Crist.  Two months after
the Jan. 23, 2001 trip, the developer, Alfred Hoffman of WCI
Communities in Bonita Springs, declared the $563 flight an in-
kind contribution to the Republican Party of Florida.  Crist
told the commission he and Hoffman never discussed cost or
payment of the flight from Tallahassee to Washington, where
Crist attended an education meeting at the White House.  Hoffman
told investigators that after the trip, Crist informed him he
was facing criticism for the flight. "Mr. Hoffman acknowledged
that they jointly decided that designating the flight as an in-
kind donation to the party was a good method to deal with the
criticism," commission records state.  The two gave different
accounts of how the flight came about: Crist said Hoffman
offered WCI's jet, which was trave