Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum indicted
Source: CBS Miami
MIAMI - Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been indicted on multiple charges connected to campaign contribution fraud during his 2018 run for governor of Florida.
A federal grand jury has returned a twenty-one count indictment against Gillum, 42.
The indictment alleges that between 2016 and 2019, Gillum and co-defendant Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud, by unlawfully soliciting and obtaining funds from various entities and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose.
The indictment also alleges Gillum and Lettman-Hicks used third parties to divert a portion of those funds to a company owned by Lettman-Hicks, who then fraudulently provided the funds, disguised as payroll payments, to Gillum for his personal use.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/miami/news/former-democratic-gubernatorial-candidate-andrew-gillum-indicted/
FM123
(10,053 posts)Gillum's attorneys, Marc Elias and David Oscar Markus, issued the following statement: "The government got it wrong today. The evidence in this case is clear and will show that Mr. Gillum is innocent of all charges. We look forward to putting this case to rest and giving Andrew and his family peace of mind once and for all."
spooky3
(34,448 posts)Grifting $250 million for fighting fraud, and all his other misuses of campaign funds.
TheRealNorth
(9,478 posts)LenaBaby61
(6,974 posts)Of course DeathSantis who called Gilium a monkey when he was running agianst him in 2018 is happy about that. DeathSantis is a Klansman, make no mistake about it. The proud boys are a white nationalist terror group, yet there they sit in Miami-Dade county--free as birds. White, right-winged, racist Privilidge sure has it's advantages.
But then again, that is Florida and between the fascist Cubans, Catholic church and racist King DeathSantis, who runs Florida like dictatorship, that place is a shithole if you're black or Haitian. My friend in his 70's is white and is packing up shop after being there for ove 50 years and moving out. His neighborhood he said has been taken over by rednecks who fly tRump banners/flags, shoot rifles up into the air, and who roll up and down the streets in huge monster trucks. He says thest people are nazis, full stop. The police do nothing because they ARE those people he said.
How the Proud Boys Gripped the Miami-Dade Republican Party
It was once Jeb Bushs base of power. But an influx of far-right activists and the radicalization of other members brought turmoil.
By Patricia Mazzei and Alan Feuer
Published June 2, 2022
Updated June 21, 2022
MIAMI At the iconic Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, just after Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida rallied donors and activists to their feet during a well-attended April fund-raiser for the Republican Party of Miami-Dade County, a scuffle broke out by the valet parking station. Several men in suits and a woman in a cocktail dress tussled over who should and should not have been allowed at the $250-a-plate dinner.
Someone alerted the police. The next day, a woman who had been escorted out of the dinner renewed a request for a restraining order against one of the men involved in the dispute, writing in her court petition that he was part of a Far Right Wing Extremist Cult. She was referring to the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group that was at the forefront of the riot at the U.S. Capitol last year.
The man was one of at least a half-dozen current and former Proud Boys who have secured seats on the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee, seeking to influence local politics from the inside. Their ranks include adherents who face criminal charges for participating in the Capitol attack: Gilbert Fonticoba has been charged with obstructing Congress. Gabriel Garcia, a former Army captain who says he has left the group, has been charged with interfering with law enforcement officers during the civil disorder on Jan. 6, 2021.
The concerted effort by the Proud Boys to join the leadership of the party and, in some cases, run for local office has destabilized and dramatically reshaped the Miami-Dade Republican Party that former Gov. Jeb Bush and others built into a powerhouse nearly four decades ago, transforming it from an archetype of the strait-laced establishment to an organization roiled by internal conflict as it wrestles with forces pulling it to the hard right. The conflict comes at a pivotal moment for Republicans nationally, as primary voters weigh whether to wrench the party from its extremist elements or more fully embrace them.
Yes, we have fringe elements, said René García, the chairman of the approximately 125-member Republican committee in Miami-Dade County, who is also a county commissioner and former state senator. Yes, we have different points of view in our party. Thats how we are. And my job as Republican chairman is to protect everyones First Amendment right, however wrong they may be.
The Proud Boys spent nearly half a decade engaged in often violent protests across the country over issues such as the removal of Confederate statues and the unsubstantiated spread of Shariah law. After the Capitol attack, however, as Proud Boys were being investigated by law enforcement and charged with federal crimes, they lowered their profile. The group dissolved its national leadership and encouraged chapters to get involved in local issues, with the goal of amassing support in advance of this years midterm elections.
The plan of attack if you want to make change is to get involved at the local level, Jeremy Bertino, a prominent member of the North Carolina Proud Boys, told The New York Times last year in the midst of the shift.
What they intend to do with their power is unclear. Still, following a trend pushed by far-right figures like Stephen K. Bannon, Proud Boys started showing up at school board meetings to protest coronavirus mask mandates and the teaching of antiracist curriculum.
The Proud Boys encroachments into the Miami-Dade Republican Party are, by far, the groups largest political success. The Fontainebleau incident was the latest to cause unrest within the party as a small but growing number of Proud Boys have deepened existing divisions and injected an unusual degree of aggression into routine dealings.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/us/miami-republicans-proud-boys.html
Cha
(297,196 posts)the case!
Does DeSantis have any thing to do with this?
💙💛
FM123
(10,053 posts)I don't really know if DeSantis has anything to do with this or not, but he is so evil I wouldn't put it past him.....
Cha
(297,196 posts)his College roommate saying what a Bully he is and DeShit loved "humiliating people".
💙💛
OrlandoDem2
(2,065 posts)We wouldnt be so worried about Rob DeSantis if Graham had won the nomination. She couldve beaten DeSantis.
This is so disappointing but yet another example of how inept the entire Florida Democratic Party is. It routinely contributes to its own 2 decade string of losses.
packman
(16,296 posts)in the Florida Panhandle. The opinion pages are going to explode in the racist comments - they already fixated on his past personnel behavior.
IMHO - good riddance , Dems don't need his type
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/2020/09/10/andrew-gillum-gillum-breaks-silence-night-south-beach-hotel/3457631001/
oldsoftie
(12,534 posts)RussBLib
(9,008 posts)... to the fullest extent of the laws. Regardless of party.
Kind of amazes me that too many politicians still pull this shit. It's so much easier to get caught these days. I wonder how many politicians are walking around with deep, dark secrets that they keep hidden? Until they can't any longer. I don't think I could function if I was sitting on secrets that could destroy my career.
My wife says it's because I am a good, honest person.
speak easy
(9,246 posts)Escurumbele
(3,389 posts)people to pretend being Democrats (Manchin, Sinema) to screw things up for everyone.
Jose Garcia
(2,595 posts)Mozeltov Cocktail
(200 posts)He was so drunk he couldn't talk or communicate...he was with a male prostitute who was overdosing on crystal meth. The was also a doctor there (his license had previously been suspended) and he was the one who called emergency services. Gillum immediately went into rehab, apologized to his wife and daughters, then mumbled some crap about maybe being bisexual.