The Department of Justice on Wednesday accused Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for governor of Florida in 2018, of conspiracy, wiretapping and false statements. The former Tallahassee mayor faces 19 charges of wiretapping along with Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks, chief executive of the National Black Justice Coalition, a gay rights group, according to Jason R. Coody, the U.S. attorney general for the Northern Florida District. The maximum prison sentence for conspiracy to commit train fraud is 20 years. Gillum was also charged with making false statements to FBI agents. The maximum prison sentence for this category is five years. Gillum, who has reached a percentage point since winning the 2018 race, has denied any wrongdoing in a statement. “I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and I continue to fight for the people,” he said. “Every campaign I have run has been done with integrity. “Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political.” “Throughout my career I have always defended the people of Florida and told the truth to the authorities,” Gillum added. “There has been a target on my back since I was mayor of Tallahassee. “Then they found nothing and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now.” According to the accusations, Gillum and Lettman-Hicks illegally demanded and obtained money from many people, falsely promising that the money would be used for legitimate purposes. Lettman-Hicks then used a company he owned to hide some of the funds fraudulently obtained as payroll payments to Gillum before using them for personal purposes, prosecutors said. Gillum’s lawyers – Marc Elias and David Oscar Markus – criticized the allegations. “The government made a mistake today,” they said in a statement. “The evidence in this case is clear and will show that Mr Gillum is innocent of all charges.” The political strategy of Angela Rye, a close friend of Gillum, expressed her frustration with the accusations, as she said it was another involvement in the immoral activities of other politicians. “As the country follows live hearings of the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, I’m concerned that the Merrick Garland Department of Justice has not yet charged key conspirators as we learn of this unjust indictment,” he told Washington. Position. “Are you sure this DOJ is not yet run by Donald J. Trump? “Because there are real threats to democracy that are waging war on the American people every day.” Gillu caught the country’s attention in 2018 as he ran to become Florida’s first black governor as a major federal federal court conducted a public inquiry into corruption in Tallahassee. FBI Secret Agent Provides ‘Hamilton’ Ticket to Florida Gov. Andrew Gillum, Text Messages Say The rising star of the Democrats had the support of many popular personalities, such as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) And pop star Rihanna. But he angered President Donald Trump and much of the conservative media before losing the race to Governor Ron Desadis (R-Fla.). The Florida Ethics Committee in 2019 accused him of violating state ethics laws. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Gillum then settled the charges by agreeing to a $ 5,000 fine for accepting a gift of more than $ 100 from a lobbyist. Gillum became a CNN political commentator amid discussions about a political future that may extend beyond Florida. It all stopped in March 2020 when police found him drunk and unconscious in a hotel room in South Beach Miami with two men. (Drugs were found at the scene, although Gillum denies using drugs and was not arrested.) This incident prompted Gillum to seek treatment and sparked speculation that the married father of three was gay. Later that year, he became one of the highest profile black men in politics to emerge as bisexual. “I do not identify as gay, but I identify as bisexual,” he told talk show host Tamron Hall in September 2020. “And this is something I have never shared publicly before.”
