Andrew Gillum lawyer accuses FBI agents of 'misconduct' as Ben Crump raises money for his defense

Andrew Gillum’s lawyers blasted FBI agents whose investigation of the former mayor led to his indictment last year, saying they engaged in “misconduct” and used drugs and women to try to “ensnare” their targets.

The lawyers’ blistering comments came in a motion filed Friday in U.S. District Court seeking to unseal a government motion filed the day before. Gillum is represented by David Markus and Katherine Miller of the Miami-based Markus/Moss firm.

The defense motion said the government tried to build a case against Gillum using at least four agents, three of whom are still referred to in court documents by their aliases.

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“Some of these four agents have checkered pasts and others have even engaged in misconduct in this particular investigation,” the Gillum lawyers said in the motion. “Some have gotten plastered with alcohol during undercover meetings, some have actually offered and bought drugs, and some have even tried to ensnare their targets with women.”

His lawyers went on to say that Gillum “never succumbed to their advances and was never charged with the bribery and other schemes that the agents tried to get him to do.” They also said the government has moved to exclude from trial “these acts of misconduct.”

Gillum and his longtime adviser Sharon Lettman-Hicks were indicted last June on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud for allegedly funneling campaign donations into their own bank accounts.

The charges grew out of an undercover FBI investigation into public corruption that began in 2015 with the arrival of an undercover agent posing as out-of-town developer “Mike Miller.” Gillum and others infamously met with the agents in New York City in 2016, where the bureau picked up the cost of hotel rooms, a boat outing and a performance of “Hamilton.”

The FBI probe led to charges and convictions against another former mayor, Scott Maddox; his close aide, Paige Carter-Smith; and businessman John “J.T.” Burnette. All three were sentenced to federal prison on bribery charges.

Gillum and Lettman-Hicks' trial is scheduled to begin April 17 at the federal courthouse in Tallahassee.

In 2020, Gillum was found passed out in a Miami Beach hotel room with a male escort who had overdosed. First responders found packages of methamphetamine in the room, but Gillum said at the time he never used drugs. He went off to rehab shortly after for an alcohol problem.

The news comes as famed civil rights lawyer Ben Crump has begun crowdfunding for Gillum’s legal defense. In January, his Forward Florida political committee shut down; it previously paid more than $400,000 in legal bills to Markus/Moss.

An email obtained by City & State, Crump says Gillum is “innocent” and “a man of integrity and a champion for the people.”

“The charges that have been brought against Mayor Gillum are unfounded and unsupported by any real evidence other than a relentless attempt to damage his character and take him off the political field where he is needed most,” Crump wrote, introducing the “Bring Justice Home Legal Defense Fund.”

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Andrew Gillum lawyer blasts FBI agents'; Ben Crump raises money for defense