By now, those who keep up with US political news have learned about the recent September 2018 election upset in Florida, where the Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum won the primary election to become the gubernatorial democratic candidate. At no point had he been in the lead in the polls and he had been outspent by several millions of dollars by his competitors. As a consequence, little has been known about him before now. His republican opponent Rep. Ron Desantis is the pick of the republican President Donald Trump and a frequent FOX TV guest.

No sooner had the elections been finalized, when the republican candidate Rep. Ron Desantis found himself mired in controversy. He appeared on a FOX TV interview where he could be heard describing how well spoken Mayor Gillum is but the Florida citizens could not afford to be monkeying around by voting for a socialist. Most of us, myself included, refuse to give him the benefit of the doubt, as he painted himself during the campaign season as a clone of President Trump, the racist-in-chief living in the White House. Also, he had to remove his membership on a Facebook site that is riddled with racist remarks, when this information was shared with the public.

But the democratic candidate, Mayor Gillum of Florida’s capital, Tallahassee has his own controversy to deal with as he runs to be Florida’s next governor. There are those on on the political scene within Florida politics in Tallahassee who are under investigation by the FBI and Mayor Gillum knew these individuals. On the flip side, any political player within the borders of Tallahassee is very likely to be acquainted with all the other active politicians, lobbyists, etc. The political world is not that big.

Mayor Andrew Gillum has stated for the record that he would not be running for an elected position, had he not truly believed that he was clean and not involved in any wrong doing.

But the republicans are armed with the talking point, that Mayor Andrew Gillum is the mayor of a city that is allegedly mired in corruption and he’s been around long enough to have been aware of this reality. This is rich coming from the republican candidate Rep. DeSantis who claims to be of the same ilk as President Trump, where several of his campaign and his administration staffers have already been indicted by the FBI for criminal activity.

The following write-up is my attempt to shed some light on Mayor Gillum’s situation.

Here is the rest of the story…

On September 1, 2018, Patricia Mazzei of the New York Times penned the following report, “Andrew Gillum Shocked Florida With a Primary Win. But an F.B.I. Inquiry Clouds His Campaign.”

Excerpts:

“From the beginning, Mr. Gillum has insisted that a corruption inquiry in which he said he played no direct role should not be an impediment to his campaign for governor. But he acknowledged that the investigation has rocked city government in Tallahassee since federal authorities delivered their first subpoenas in the case last summer.”

“What kept me going even through that difficult time was my knowledge that I would never do anything to compromise my morals, my values, my family, my children, my vote,” Mr. Gillum said in an interview this week. “I was very clear in that, which is why I was not afraid to keep going on the trail, keep answering questions, continue to take it on the chin.”

“At issue is a vote in June 2016 to expand a city redevelopment district to include properties the undercover agents posing as developers said they wanted to invest in if the properties became eligible for public dollars. It would have been unlawful for public officials to accept money or other consideration from the purported developers in exchange for favorable votes.”

“Mr. Gillum was not present for the vote that approved the boundary change. But the investigation revealed that he had spent time socializing with Mr. Corey, the lobbyist, and the undercover agents in New York, including taking a boat ride to the Statue of Liberty and seeing a Broadway performance of the hit musical “Hamilton.”

“The trip to New York in August 2016 raised questions of why the mayor was spending personal time with developers who had potential business before the city. Similar questions resulted from another trip that Mr. Gillum took with his wife and several lobbyist friends — including Mr. Corey — to Costa Rica in May 2016.”

“Mr. Gillum’s campaign said in response to written questions on Friday that the “Hamilton” tickets and the mayor’s hotel stay at the Millennium Hilton hotel in Downtown Manhattan were paid for by his younger brother, Marcus Gillum, who was on the New York trip. The brothers attended the musical along with Mr. Corey and one of the undercover agents. The ticket Marcus Gillum gave his brother was in exchange for a Jay-Z concert ticket Marcus Gillum gave Mr. Corey, Andrew Gillum later learned. “

“Andrew Gillum has said he would provide receipts proving he paid for the balance of his travel to New York, but he has not done so yet. His campaign said it would release the documentation “in the near future.”

“During the Costa Rica trip, Mr. Corey emailed Mr. Gillum a calendar invitation scheduling tapas and drinks with two of the undercover agents upon their return to Tallahassee. The invitation suggested that Mr. Gillum and Mr. Corey had engaged in city business during the trip, though Mr. Gillum’s campaign denied that.”

“Mr. Corey is also a city vendor: He received $2.1 million in public funds to turn an old power plant in the community redevelopment district into a high-end restaurant named Edison, where the tapas-and-drinks meeting would later take place. Mr. Gillum voted for Mr. Corey to receive those funds in 2013, after city lawyers deemed it would not be a conflict of interest.”

“It was a trip amongst a large group of friends from Tallahassee, as lots of people take,” Geoff Burgan, a spokesman for Mr. Gillum’s campaign, said of the Costa Rica trip. As for New York, he said, Mr. Gillum had planned to travel there on business for his former employer, the People for the American Way Foundation, and extended his stay to see people he thought were friends.

Link to entire report: Andrew Gillum Shocked Florida With a Primary Win