Andrew Gillum, the Democrat who lost the 2018 Florida governor’s race to incumbent Ron DeSantis, was charged with conspiracy and 19 counts of fraud. Gillum, along with a close associate, were charged with how they raised and used funds when he was mayor of Tallahassee and a candidate for governor. The 42-year-old was also charged with making false statements to the F.B.I.
Gillum was once a rising star Democrat who had national hopes. Back in 2018, he came within 32,000 votes of the governorship, but he soon lost his political direction and faced personal struggles. In 2020, the police found him in a Miami Beach hotel room where another man was suffering from a possible drug overdose. Police said Gillum was incapacitated and that they found suspected drugs. He entered rehab to seek alcoholism treatment shortly after.
Gillum appeared in court on Wednesday with his wrists and ankles cuffed and a chain around his waist. He pleaded not guilty and left the courthouse soon after. He gave no comment to the cameras waiting outside. Mr. Gillum later stated that all his political campaigns had been run “with integrity.”
The charges stem from a federal investigation into Tallahassee City Hall that began in 2015. The investigation, which involved undercover F.B.I. agents posing as developers, found that Mr. Gillum had socialized with those agents in New York, where they took a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty and saw the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton”. Mr. DeSantis, the sitting governor, and a Republican said at the time that Mr. Gillum could not be trusted to run the state.
In 2019, Gillum, who did not disclose the gifts at the time, paid a $5,000 Florida ethics fine.
The 21-count indictment against Mr. Gillum shows that a grand jury filed the charges against him on June 7. Also charged was Sharon Lettman-Hicks, 53, a confidante of Mr. Gillum’s since he was in college. According to the indictment, she used her communications company called P&P to disguise fraudulent payments to Gillum. Ms. Lettman-Hicks, who is running as a Democrat for State House in Tallahassee, pleaded not guilty.
The New Your Time’s Patricia Mazzei reports that “In 2017, when he became a candidate for governor, Mr. Gillum resigned from his position with People for the American Way… Mr. Gillum lost his annual $122,500 salary, and Ms. Lettman-Hicks lost $3,000 in monthly rent. Mr. Gillum was … paid about $70,500 a year as mayor… Mr. Gillum then became an employee of P&P Communications, where he was given a monthly salary of $10,000.” The indictment states that the hiring of Mr. Gillum was “only a cover used to provide him funds that he lost” after he resigned from People for the American Way.
The indictment lists many ways Gillum used his campaign and donor money for himself. For example, when Gillum and Lettman-Hicks solicited $50,000 in funding from two organizations, the money was intended to be used for the Campaign to Defend Local Solutions, Instead, that money ultimately went to P&P Communications to pay Gillum.
In 2018, Gillum and Lettman-Hicks defrauded a donor who had given $250,000 to Mr. Gillum’s campaign. $150,000 of that was diverted to Mr. Gillum’s PAC and P&P Communications. And in November 2018, $130,000 from the campaign was supposed to go to “get out the vote” efforts, but $60,000 went to P&P Communications and was used in part to pay Mr. Gillum $20,000 in “bonus” payments from Nov. 20 to 29, 2018. Eventually, it was falsely listed in Mr. Gillum’s campaign finance report as reimbursement for “Get Out the Vote Canvassing.”
The inditement can be found here. It details more charges against Gillum, like not listing his own campaign finance details.
Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/us/andrew-gillum-conspiracy-wire-fraud.html
Gillum was once a rising star Democrat who had national hopes. Back in 2018, he came within 32,000 votes of the governorship, but he soon lost his political direction and faced personal struggles. In 2020, the police found him in a Miami Beach hotel room where another man was suffering from a possible drug overdose. Police said Gillum was incapacitated and that they found suspected drugs. He entered rehab to seek alcoholism treatment shortly after.
Gillum appeared in court on Wednesday with his wrists and ankles cuffed and a chain around his waist. He pleaded not guilty and left the courthouse soon after. He gave no comment to the cameras waiting outside. Mr. Gillum later stated that all his political campaigns had been run “with integrity.”
The charges stem from a federal investigation into Tallahassee City Hall that began in 2015. The investigation, which involved undercover F.B.I. agents posing as developers, found that Mr. Gillum had socialized with those agents in New York, where they took a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty and saw the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton”. Mr. DeSantis, the sitting governor, and a Republican said at the time that Mr. Gillum could not be trusted to run the state.
In 2019, Gillum, who did not disclose the gifts at the time, paid a $5,000 Florida ethics fine.
The 21-count indictment against Mr. Gillum shows that a grand jury filed the charges against him on June 7. Also charged was Sharon Lettman-Hicks, 53, a confidante of Mr. Gillum’s since he was in college. According to the indictment, she used her communications company called P&P to disguise fraudulent payments to Gillum. Ms. Lettman-Hicks, who is running as a Democrat for State House in Tallahassee, pleaded not guilty.
The New Your Time’s Patricia Mazzei reports that “In 2017, when he became a candidate for governor, Mr. Gillum resigned from his position with People for the American Way… Mr. Gillum lost his annual $122,500 salary, and Ms. Lettman-Hicks lost $3,000 in monthly rent. Mr. Gillum was … paid about $70,500 a year as mayor… Mr. Gillum then became an employee of P&P Communications, where he was given a monthly salary of $10,000.” The indictment states that the hiring of Mr. Gillum was “only a cover used to provide him funds that he lost” after he resigned from People for the American Way.
The indictment lists many ways Gillum used his campaign and donor money for himself. For example, when Gillum and Lettman-Hicks solicited $50,000 in funding from two organizations, the money was intended to be used for the Campaign to Defend Local Solutions, Instead, that money ultimately went to P&P Communications to pay Gillum.
In 2018, Gillum and Lettman-Hicks defrauded a donor who had given $250,000 to Mr. Gillum’s campaign. $150,000 of that was diverted to Mr. Gillum’s PAC and P&P Communications. And in November 2018, $130,000 from the campaign was supposed to go to “get out the vote” efforts, but $60,000 went to P&P Communications and was used in part to pay Mr. Gillum $20,000 in “bonus” payments from Nov. 20 to 29, 2018. Eventually, it was falsely listed in Mr. Gillum’s campaign finance report as reimbursement for “Get Out the Vote Canvassing.”
The inditement can be found here. It details more charges against Gillum, like not listing his own campaign finance details.
Article Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/us/andrew-gillum-conspiracy-wire-fraud.html
