Trial Day 4: Why the feds delayed charging Andrew Gillum and the money trail

Two more FBI agents took the stand in the public corruption investigation of Andrew Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks, the fourth day of the trial.

Gillum, former Tallahassee mayor and the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, and Lettman-Hicks, his longtime mentor and owner of P&P Communications, are charged with illegally soliciting campaign donations and pocketing them in their own accounts. Gillum also is charged with lying to the FBI about gifts undercover FBI agents gave him during a 2016 trip to New York City.

Here are the latest developments in the trial:

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Cross examination of FBI case agent in Gillum probe continues

David Markus, attorney for Andrew Gillum, continued his cross-examination of Evan Hurley, an FBI special agent who managed the corruption investigation starting around the summer of 2017, after it had been in progress for nearly two years.

Markus went through Gillum’s interview in June 2017 with himself and another overt, rather than undercover, FBI agent, Josh Doyle. He pointed out times Gillum appeared to be telling the truth, including acknowledging that he knew Mike Miller and Brian Butler, who posed as developers willing to pay bribes to move their projects forward.

“He’s being open and forthright with you,” Markus said.

“About these two guys, yes,” Hurley responded.

Gillum told Hurley and Doyle during his interview that the developers, whom he didn’t know at the time were FBI agents, wanted guarantees in exchange for campaign donations.

“Let me be very clear,” Gillum said he told the purported developers, “I vote when I vote.”

Under redirect by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Grogan asked whether Gillum volunteered other information, including the “Hamilton” tickets for himself and his brother, the boat ride and dinners, all paid for by the FBI.

“He did not,” Hurley replied.

Grogan asked whether it could affect the FBI’s investigation if someone was truthful about things that wouldn’t hurt them and untruthful about things that could hurt them.

“Yes it could,” Hurley said.

Officials with nonprofits at center of government's case take the stand

The government called Gail Aidinoff Scovell, former general counsel for the Open Society Foundations, to testify about a $100,000 grant that its affiliate nonprofit, Foundation to Promote Open Society, gave to the Campaign to Defend Local Solutions. Gillum formed the campaign as mayor to fight state pre-emption of local issues, including gun regulations.

Scovell testified that the National Black Justice Coalition, which Sharon Lettman-Hicks led as CEO, served as fiscal sponsor for the money because the CDLS was a campaign rather than a legal or financial entity.

She said the work of the CDLS was “very important” and that the nonprofit was pleased with its work.

“We didn’t have any indication that anything was wrong,” she said, “and actually we were pretty happy with the outcome of the project.”

She said that while the vast majority of the nonprofit’s grants were spent appropriately by the recipients, there have been instances in which funds were misallocated.

During cross-examination, Alex Morris, an attorney for Lettman-Hicks, asked whether Gillum could have received payment from CDLS as a vendor.

“From our perspective, it wouldn’t be prohibited,” she said.

Federal prosecutors allege that a total of $50,000 from the Foundation to Promote Open Society and another major grantmaking organization, the New World Foundation, was diverted through NBJC to P&P and into Gillum’s bank account.

Heeten Kalan, senior program director for the New World Foundation, testified that his organization also gave a total of $100,000 to CDLS. Gillum served on the NWF board from 2013 to 2017 and asked for grant money as part of his campaign to stop state preemption.

Gillum initially asked that the $100,000 grant go to the Forward Florida PAC that eventually became his soft-money account in the 2018 governor’s race. But NWF, which can only give to other charitable organizations, said it couldn’t give to the PAC.

Forward Florida origin: Andrew Gillum's fundraising PAC took shape in city email

Former FBI special agent says he was convinced Gillum took bribes

Michael Wiederspahn, a recently retired FBI special agent who helped oversee the corruption probe in Tallahassee, testified about the Gillum family’s income from 2016 to 2018. He was on the stand for hours and had several combative exchanges with defense attorneys.

Wiederspahn told jurors that when Gillum stepped down from his longtime job with the People for the American Way Foundation in 2017, it “cut his family income in half.” He said the family’s combined income in 2017 was nearly $130,000. After house and car payments and other “fixed” expenses, the family had only $16,000 left over for groceries and other day-to-day expenses. That worked out to about $1,300 a month, he said.

“He was living beyond his paychecks even with the P&P money,” Wiederspahn said.

During cross-examination by Gillum lawyer David Markus, Wiederspahn said the FBI didn’t find evidence that Gillum ever took a bribe.

“You still think he took a bribe?” Markus asked incredulously.

“Based on his behavior on that tape, I do,” Wiederspahn replied, referencing a recorded conversation between Gillum and the undercover agents.

Markus asked Wiederspahn whether he was aware that the Open Society Foundations and NWF were “perfectly happy” with how their grant money was spent and didn’t consider themselves victims. He responded by saying the nonprofits never looked into whether the money was properly spent.

“They don’t check,” he said. “The trust people they give (grants) to.”

Agent says FBI delayed charging to avoid compromising election

Both Markus and Morris, Lettman-Hicks’ lawyer, asked Wiederspahn about delays in the Gillum investigation, which went dormant by 2018 and didn’t gear up again until 2019. The corruption investigation began in 2015, though it initially focused on former City Commissioner Scott Maddox, his aide Paige Carter-Smith and businessman John “J.T.” Burnette, all of whom were convicted on bribery charges.

Racing the clock: Charges against Gillum from undercover FBI operation were about to hit statute of limitations

Wiederspahn said the Gillum portion of the case was reassigned to other agents for a time while he worked the Maddox side of the investigation. He also said the FBI didn’t want to interfere in the 2018 election.

“We made every effort to not affect the 2018 election,” he said.

Wiederspahn retired at the end of 2022 after 33 years with the FBI. He was hired not long after by U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida to consult on the Gillum trial. Under questioning by Morris, he said he was being paid $75 an hour for up to 1,000 hours.

Morris asked whether that job was publicly noticed and open to other applicants. It wasn’t, he said. But under redirect by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan, he said he was the only person with required knowledge of the case to take on the consulting job.

Gavel to gavel coverage

While cameras and electronics are not allowed in the courtroom, stay tuned to tallahassee.com for daily updates from longtime investigative reporter Jeff Burlew (@JeffBurlew on Twitter).

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Andrew Gillum corruption Trial Day 4: Updates as agents testify