Corruption trial of Andrew Gillum, former Democratic candidate for Governor of Florida begins

Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate who lost to Ron DeSantis in the 2018 Florida governor's race by a razor-thin margin, faces trial starting today on 17 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to the FBI. The former Tallahassee mayor is accused of allegedly diverting about $57,000 in campaign contributions to his personal account and accepting gifts in exchange for municipal bids.

$57,000 of campaign donations diverted to his personal account

An FBI investigation concluded that Gillum and his political adviser, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, solicited campaign donations from individuals and nonprofit organizations and diverted some of the proceeds to their own bank accounts. The charges against both stem from Operation Capital Currency, which used undercover agents, and led to bribery convictions and federal prison sentences for former city commissioner and Mayor Scott Maddox who served with Gillum as his deputy, Paige Carter-Smith, and developer John "J.T." Burnette.

Two undercover agents, Mike Miller and Mike Sweet, posed as outside developers eager to win City Hall bids and willing to pay bribes to do so. For example, they paid for lodging and meals for Gillum and his brother at the Millennium Hilton Hotel, plus a boat ride in New York Harbor and a ticket to the Broadway show Hamilton.

FBI claims Gillum fell into undercover agent's traps

Questioned by members of the FBI, Gillum, who was unaware that Miller and Sweet were undercover agents, denied ever accepting gifts from his company - Southern Pines, a front for the FBI - and stressed that he broke with them when they began linking his gifts to political favors. This is also denied by the federal investigation.

The former mayor, for his part, continues to maintain his innocence and opened a donation campaign - "Bring Justice Home" - in order to finance his defense. His lawyers point to it being a "botched bribery operation," and have accused the government of selective prosecution and targeting him because of his race, something prosecutors deny.

Scandals since its defeat in 2018

Gillum's rising star began to fade in 2018, when a less than 34,000 votes difference, made his rival DeSantis governor of Florida. From there, Gillum's name has been associated with scandals, such as being found by police in a Miami hotel room in 2020 with methamphetamines in several backpacks and a man being revived from an overdose. According to agents, Gillum himself was unable to testify due to his condition. In a later statement, the former mayor said he was intoxicated because he had been at a wedding, but denied having consumed drugs.

Miami mayor among conservatives who voted for Gillum in 2018.

His candidacy for governor was even supported by Republican politicians such as the current mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez. Suarez, a Cuban-American who is considering running in the GOP primary for the 2024 presidential election, acknowledged that he voted for the Democratic candidate this time around, among other things, because of Gillum's promise to establish a state living wage, "a fundamental human right" for Suarez. Suarez did not endorse Trump in 2020 and prefers not to speak out about DeSantis' current anti-Woke policies in Florida.