JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One phone call is at the center of a lawsuit filed earlier this year against the state attorney and his top assistant after a local attorney questioned their campaign fund raising.

On Wednesday, that attorney, Wesley White, questioned both state attorney Harry Shorstein and his top assistant, Jay Plotkin, behind closed doors.

White said he received a phone call from Plotkin -- Shorstein's handpicked successor for state attorney -- asking for a contribution. What troubled White was that he said the call came from the state attorney's office during business hours, which he said is against election laws.

"The concern with that is it's against the law, and if any office or any position is aware of the law, it should be the state attorney's office," White said.

In response, White made a public records request asking for all e-mails from the state attorney's office that has anything to do with the campaign and anything at all to do with Plotkin's opponent Angela Corey.

The attorney's request involves thousands of e-mails. During the court deposition on Wednesday, Shorstein said the overwhelming request would have shut down his office and was nothing but dirty politics.

"I am extremely upset about the impact on my office and the prosecution of crime just in the hope that it could have a political benefit to Angela Corey. I think that is shameful and disgraceful," Shorstein said.

"I don't recall ever asking Mr. White to give a financial contribution to my campaign," Plotkin said.

However, Plotkin did say he might have sent e-mails of a political nature from his office.

"Have I been perfect? I probably inveterately made some mistakes. I've done the best I can," Plotkins said.

White read Channel 4 some of the emails he received from his records request, but said for the most part all he got was junk -- nothing that he asked for -- and that's why he is suing.

"No effort was made to separate public records from garbage, and what I got was -- literally -- I got thousands and thousands of pages of garbage," White said.

Corey said she admires White's stance and supports anyone who is looking for the truth.

"I know him and admire him. Mr. White will not be bullied Mr. Shorstein and neither will I," Corey said.

Meanwhile, White said he has not received all of the email he put in his public request even though he spent more than $1,000 for the documents.

A trial date for the lawsuit has been scheduled for later this month.