Former DeSantis rival Andrew Gillum indicted on wire fraud charges

“Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political,” Gillum said. “Throughout my career, I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power. There’s been a target on my back ever since I was the mayor of Tallahassee. They found nothing then, and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now.”

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The charges against Gillum, once a rising star in the Democratic Party, also include making false statements to the FBI, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. The wire fraud charges can include a maximum of 20 years in prison, and the conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges can include up to 20 years behind bars as well.

Between 2016 and 2019, Gillum and Lettman-Hicks committed and conspired to commit wire fraud by allegedly securing money from various groups through false promises and using the funds for personal use, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida alleged.

Federal prosecutors said that “both defendants are charged with 19 counts of wire fraud” while Gillum “is also charged with making false statements to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

“On or about June 14, 2017, Gillum voluntarily agreed to speak with FBI agents,” the federal indictment said. “During the conversation, Gillum falsely represented that Southern Pines representatives never offered Gillum anything or gave to Gillum anything, and that Gillum stopped having communications with Southern Pines representatives about the campaign contributions following their attempt to link the campaign contributions to support for potential projects in Tallahassee.”

Southern Pines was pursuing development contracts throughout Tallahassee at the time. The indictment contended that “these statements and representations were false” because “as Gillum then well knew, Southern Pines did offer and give to Gillum a hotel room, meals, a boat tour of New York Harbor, and tickets to the Broadway show Hamilton, which was paid for by Southern Pines representatives.” Gillum also “continued to communicate” with Southern Pines representatives related to those representatives contributing to his campaign even after they attempted to link the money to possible Tallahassee projects, further underscoring that he was lying, according to the federal indictment.

Democratic lawyer Marc Elias and attorney David Oscar Markus have pledged to fight the charges on Gillum’s behalf.

“The government got it wrong today. The evidence in this case is clear and will show that Mr. Gillum is innocent of all charges. We look forward to putting this case to rest and giving Andrew and his family peace of mind once and for all,” the lawyers declared in a statement to the outlet.

The Washington Examiner reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida and Markus for comment.

Gillum has faced ethics scrutiny in the past. While serving as the mayor of Tallahassee, he reportedly accepted free boat rides and a ticket to the play Hamilton. He defended his actions, insisting he believed the tickets came from a friend.

In reality, the ticket came from an FBI official posing as a real estate developer. He subsequently agreed to a $5,000 settlement with the Florida Commission on Ethics in 2019 for inappropriately accepting gifts from lobbyists and not disclosing it, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

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In 2020, he was found with three men who were in possession of “plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth,” a police report said. Gillum, who was not arrested, denied using the drugs while apologizing for the incident.

An initial court appearance regarding the 21 new counts was slated for Wednesday at 2 p.m.