Recap and analysis of the week in state government and politics
By Ryan Dailey, The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Four years ago, Andrew Gillum celebrated a stunning win in the Democratic gubernatorial primary with hundreds of supporters during a raucous gathering at a Tallahassee hotel. This week, just a few blocks away, Gillum sat handcuffed in a federal courtroom and pleaded not guilty to charges that could send him to prison.
The one-time rising star of Florida Democratic politics narrowly lost the 2018 race for governor to Republican Ron DeSantis. He was arrested Wednesday on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to federal agents and later appeared before a federal magistrate judge
A 21-count indictment unsealed Wednesday accused Gillum and a longtime adviser, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, of illegally soliciting and obtaining money from various entities “through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose.”
Gillum and Lettman-Hicks are each charged with 19 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The wire-fraud and conspiracy charges carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Gillum also was charged with one count of making false statements for allegedly lying to federal investigators in 2017, when he was mayor of Tallahassee.
In a prepared statement, Gillum denied wrongdoing and described the charges as politically motivated.
“I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people. Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power,” Gillum, 42, said. “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.”
Before he lost to DeSantis by about 32,000 votes — less than half a percentage point — Gillum had become a darling in national Democratic Party circles.
Seen as a politician who could energize young and progressive voters, he was held up as a candidate who could put a Democrat in Florida’s governor’s mansion for the first time in two decades.
But the indictment provided a window into the scheme that soured Gillum’s most ardent supporters.
Gillum and Lettman-Hicks are accused of defrauding a person identified only as “Individual F” of $150,000 of a $250,000 contribution to Gillum’s gubernatorial political committees. Gillum solicited the money from the donor in May 2018.
Prominent Orlando attorney John Morgan contributed $250,000 to Gillum’s campaign in 2018, part of a total of $1.7 million that Morgan said he and his law firm contributed to Gillum’s election effort.
Morgan slammed Gillum after the indictment.
“Anything is possible with that guy. He kept all of our money and lost by a fraction. He destroyed the Democratic Party in Florida. I quit because of him,” Morgan said in an email.
Gillum’s arrest wasn’t his first brush with scandal. He largely disappeared from the spotlight following a 2020 incident in a South Beach hotel room, where a man reportedly overdosed. Gillum was in the room and a police report said he was “unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state.”
Three small bags of suspected crystal meth were found in the room, police said, but Gillum later denied doing drugs.
In March 2020, Gillum announced he was going into a rehabilitation facility because of alcohol abuse. He also said he we was bisexual.
GOING ‘ALL-OUT’ ON ABORTION?
With the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Florida days away from a 15-week abortion limit taking effect, DeSantis is already eyeing further restrictions on abortion access.
Until Friday, when the Supreme Court tossed out the landmark 1973 abortion-rights decision, DeSantis had remained tight-lipped about whether he would seek to go further than a new state law preventing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The governor, who signed the law in April, issued a statement praising the Supreme Court ruling in a Mississippi case, saying the “prayers of millions have been answered.”
“Florida will continue to defend its recently-enacted pro-life reforms against state court challenges, will work to expand pro-life protections, and will stand for life by promoting adoption, foster care and child welfare,” DeSantis said in a Twitter post.
While Republicans celebrated the ruling, abortion-rights advocates quickly announced they would hold rallies in opposition. They blasted the ruling as an attack on reproductive rights.
Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, D-Plantation, predicted that Republicans could seek an “all-out” abortion ban in Florida.
“With Florida Republicans cruelly proving their appetite for robbing women and girls victimized by the horrific trauma of rape, incest, and human trafficking of their right to an abortion after 15 weeks — period, end of sentence, no exceptions — it is clearly only a matter of time before our state also debates an all-out abortion ban,” Book said in a prepared statement.
INMAN IS OUT
A year after being named to run an agency that oversees a wide range of state business operations such as real estate, purchasing and human resources, Todd Inman is stepping down as secretary of the Department of Management Services.
In a brief letter to DeSantis, Inman said his last day will be July 15 and praised the department’s accomplishments and staff members.
“They are (poised) to continue delivering exceptional service to the citizens of Florida in the years to come,” wrote Inman, who didn’t state a reason for his decision.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, a Democrat who narrowly lost the 2018 gubernatorial election to Ron DeSantis, was arrested Wednesday on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to federal agents.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I could be.” — Orlando attorney John Morgan, on whether he is the unidentified “Individual F” named in Gillum’s indictment.