Florida voters dodged a bullet in 2018 when Ron DeSantis narrowly beat Andrew Gillum — then considered a rising star — to become the governor of Florida.
Their trajectories couldn’t have been more different after that race.
Gillum’s career blew up after he was found inebriated in a hotel with a man who was suspected of having overdosed on crystal meth. DeSantis, however, has done great work for Florida and is highly-touted to be a presidential candidate in 2024.
NBC reported on the indictment that is related to fraud during the campaign and noted he’s retained Marc Elias for his defense.
Gillum gave up at 10 AM and associates expect the indictment will be released at 1.
We don’t have specifics but here’s the first full story (working on it since last night but they blasted out a statement this am confirming)https://t.co/YTVnOusr0z
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) June 22, 2022
Now, the specific charges against him have been made public. Indicted in federal court on 21 counts, he and Sharon LettmanHicks, his longtime advisor, were both named.
According to the indictment, they were accused of using:
[C]Onspired to commit fraud by illegally soliciting funds from different entities and people through fraudulent promises and representations about the legitimate use of funds. Indictment also alleges defendants used third-parties to divert funds from various entities to Lettman-Hicks. Lettman Hicks then fraudulently distributed the funds as payroll payments to Gillum. The Indictment charges both defendants with 19 counts each of wire fraud. Gillum was also accused of making false statements about the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Gillum said that the prosecution was motivated by politics.
“I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people,” Gillum said. “Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. The case in this instance is not just legal. In all my years of service, I’ve stood for Florida and spoken the truth. 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.”
Marc Elias, a leading Democratic lawyer, and top criminal defense attorney David Oscar Markus also issued a written statement to NBC News that would not confirm the charges, but said they’ll fight to clear his name.
“The government got it wrong today. All evidence is in support of Mr. Gillum’s innocence. We look forward to putting this case to rest and giving Andrew and his family peace of mind once and for all,” the lawyers said in the joint statement.
Left-leaning people are shaming Gillum’s prosecution, while they support Attorney General Merrick Garrarland in pursuing imaginary Republican crimes.
But it’s hard to imagine what a mess everything would be if Gillum had won and how many consequential decisions for the state depended on that race.
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