Tallahassee Reports has confirmed additional facts about Mayor Andrew Gillum’s trip to New York with the supposed undercover FBI agent Michael Miller and Edison owner and city lobbyist, Adam Corey.
The New York trip was first reported by WCTV reporter Mariel Carbone. WCTV obtained a picture of Gillum, Corey, and Miller on a boat in New York harbor with the Statue of Liberty in the background.
The Tallahassee Democrat wrote that the Mayors Office released a statement that said Gillum “was in New York on the last day of a business trip for his previous employer, the People for the American Way Foundation, and was invited by Corey to see the Statue of Liberty.”
The statement makes it sound like the boat ride was an impromptu engagement.
However, after reviewing documents and talking to sources, TR has confirmed that a person named Michael Miller reserved and paid for rooms at the Millennium Hilton in New York City from August 10th through 12th. The other two presumed undercover FBI agents were also on the trip.
Sources verified that the trip included a New York Mets game and a viewing of the Broadway show Hamilton.
Finally, sources told TR that Mayor Gillum’s brother, Marcus Gillum, was also on the trip.
Gillum told WCTV that it “looks like people hanging out. I really am deeply offended by folks ascribing other meaning to it.”
However, given the presence of a city lobbyist and developers seeking to do business with the Community Redevelopment Agency there are number of questions that Mayor Gillum should answer.
First, who paid for the activities on the trip?
And second, why was Gillum’s brother included on a trip with three developers and a city lobbyist? Did he know the developers? Was Marcus Gillum friends with Adam Corey?
Gillum told WCTV, “It was frankly a couple of friends getting together.”
Gillum has yet to say who paid for anything on the trip. Florida law requires public officials to disclose gifts from lobbyists with a value over $100. None of Gillum’s gift disclosure forms obtained by TR mention anything about a trip to New York.
Also, there are laws that regulate what gifts can be accepted by associates of elected officials.
Andrew Gillum’s New York Trip Was More Than a Boat Ride added by Staff on
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I haven’t read through all the comments, but do we know if Gillum used a personal email account to conduct City business? That seems to be protocol for corrupt politicians who don’t want the people to know what they are doing (ie. Hillary Clinton).
If he does, I’m betting they’re stored on a server in John Marx’s bathroom.
Now that is funny! Good one Maven!
Mr. Responsible – Mayor Andrew has lorded over a city with the highest crime rate in Florida. Watch a local newscast sometime when they ask nearby residents if they know anything about the recent shooting and they say “we hear gunshots around here all the time”. Imagine raising children in that kind of environment while knowing that Mayor Andy, commissioners, and the reverends are headed home to their safe environs. All crime reports from the Tallahassee Police Department are sent to City Hall prior to public release, for ‘cleansing’? TPD fights crime by giving out LED bulbs to residents of wealthier neighborhoods. Between June 3 and August 7 there were 5 murders and 16 shootings (that were cleared for dissemination by city hall). We also have the highest STD rate. He gave us a 13.5% Property tax increase(originally 27%) to provide for public safety. Most of that went for raises for city employees and senior staff. Between 2008 and 2016, Andrew Gillum approved a 22% increase in salaries for all city employees. He is great at grandstanding with the reverends to fix our problems, but always winds up going back to the safe side of town with most of the reverends for the evening. He has a larger budget than the Mayor of Boston. He has more aides than almost every mayoral office in Florida. He turns his head when no bid contracts are approved. He managed to get his campaign treasurer a sweet historic building inside a new downtown park to open a restaurant, using taxpayer money and competing with private business. He goes on trips with the city lobbyists (his friends), Ahhh Mexico. City Hall hires private investigators to spy on citizens. Tallahassee Police Department was supposed to get body cameras years ago, never happened despite promises. He told us someone flew a confederate flag over City Hall and he was going to hold someone accountable, never happened. He insults the largest employer in town making raises impossible. He lambasted fracking, yet forgets somehow that the city owned public utilities uses fracked natural gas to generate electricity. He neutered the City ethics board and appointed an insider as chair. In 2005 he voted to extend to himself a deferred compensation package that was offered to senior staff, it was retroactive to 2004 and he pocketed $17,000 of taxpayer funds, plus interest. According to IRS documents, Andrew Gillum worked 40 hours per week as mayor($72K) at the same time he was working 40 hours a week as a Director at the (SOROS)People for The American Way Foundation ($150K?). He was under investigation by the State Attorney for using taxpayer money and city staff for personal political work and campaigning for Hillary, but his investigator and he shared the same campaign manager(a city lobbyist). Somehow the grand jury was asked to find ‘criminal intent’, but hey, I guess he didn’t ‘intend’ to use taxpayer money and city staff for political purposes, it just happened. He claims not to be the focus of an FBI investigation, but he sits on a CRA board that is under FBI investigation. There are pictures of him being buddy buddy with the FBI agent and his best buddy Corey who is under FBI investigation. More than half of his campaign contributions are from sources outside of Florida. Forward Florida, shows that he has collected just one check in the past five weeks; he’s received only 3 checks since April 30. Gillum has yet to replace his campaign manager and finance director, both of whom stepped down last month. Since 2003 he has never been anything but a city commissioner and mayor. His mentor was an ethically challenged John Marks who had his property annexed into the city after he was elected Mayor?
This barely scratches the surface. The corruption and deceit is there, or else you haven’t been paying attention.
Spot on!!!! Tell the truth, shame the devil.
WOW!!!
The unethical behavior of many of our elected officials has completely sprawled out of control. As TR states, merely stating what has factually occurred is not an opinion piece as ‘Responsible Observer’ tries to elude to. Tallahassee has been a great place, but the corruption that has enveloped our city is leading to its ruination. Crime rates may be high, but lets not take our eyes off the true issues. The TD will continue to try and focus on a high crime rate, yet not report that most of our crimes are property crimes in nature, and due to our own ignorance. By leaving cars unlocked and weapons in those cars which lead to violent crimes.
Oh no, please do not be swayed with little and fast talk of the TD, protector of local governance. Keep your eye on the real problem, CORRUPTION!!! This happens when you allow the same people to keep the same position for far to long (our Congress as an example). We have our own swamp to drain. Problem is the drain is clogged with TD and the other liberal cronies that surround and hold our city hostage every day. Keep up the good work TR. We need you.
Allude-to refer to
Elude- escape from
Bunch of half wits
Great reporting by TR – Tallahassee has needed a real investigative reporting form of media for so long! It sounds like this FBI case could really get big, and may even get some national coverage. I actually hope that happens, since our reputation is now bottom-of-the-barrel as a city. But hopefully this case may be so extensive in indictments and (please!) actual jail sentences for the guilty individuals that even the local Lockstep Liberals will re-think their voting habits and we can (at last) get some ethical, moral candidates elected. Then and only then will Tallahassee turn around this slide into ruin.
Almost two months of “reporting” on this purportedly massive corruption investigation yet not a single, corroborated fact of actual corruption or quid pro quo anywhere among the speculation. This is a joke. City officials were interested in working with a developer looking to invest millions in revitalizing the city? Shocking!! Give me a break. There are some editors who better hope there is more than meets the eye or they will be spending the majority of 2018 sitting for depositions. Even this report is completely reckless, implying that these FBI agents paid for lodging and entertainment for the mayor when nobody has come close to verifying that. If, as reported, the FBI investigation spanned years and involved millions of dollars in resources, it is unlikely that they uncovered rampant, significant corruption given the absence of even a single leak confirming an instance of actual quid pro quo. My guess is they spent those years fishing, trying to hook, leverage, and then flip connectors like Corey and Rivers in order to take down bigger fish. Looks like the FBI wasn’t successful in that regard, so they moved on from Corey last year. But, the grand jury system is such a joke that a US Attorney could indict the Pope if it wanted to. So we’ll probably see indictments. And it is just as probable that those indictments will be very disappointing to the blood thirsty folks hoping to see a real scandal.
The mission of Tallahassee Reports is to hold elected leaders accountable to the citizens they represent. Traveling with a city lobbyist who is paid to secure votes and a developer who wants favors is something the Mayor of Tallahassee should have to disclose and discuss. However, the Mayor is refusing to answer questions about who paid for what. His actions are implying the FBI agents paid for the trip. The Mayor should explain the details of the trip instead of refusing to answers basic questions. Beyond this, is it really acceptable for the Mayor of Tallahassee to repeatedly put himself in this position – exposed to those who are trying to influence his decisions? Tallahassee Reports will continue to fulfill our mission with due diligence and hope that responsible observers will demand answers from those in power.
(Ir)responsible Observer AKA Dandy Andy,
Perhaps you should consider changing your name to Irresponsible Observer…There are so many levels of corruption regarding the trip(s) to New York (Manhattan, Las Vegas, Amelia Island, Sandestin & Tampa) with FBI agents/developers/politicos it is embarrassing that you believe it is perfectly acceptable.
From what I’ve heard is usual policy in FBI investigations, the investigators have to justify the reasons and worth of each investigation to their higher-ups in the Justice Dept. every six months in order to continue it. If that is indeed true, there are obviously more than enough important reasons this FBI investigation has proceeded for so long with undercover agents. The FBI and the Justice Dept. have only so much personnel and resources to spend on an investigation – so why pour more time and valuable investigators into a mere set of small-time local government crimes and only one or two officials who could simply be locally reprimanded and/or dismissed from office? No sir – there is probably much, much more to this investigation than “uncorroborated facts of actual corruption or quid pro quo anywhere”.
Fowinkle/Carlton are dead on with their comments. Leon Co. is a hot bed of super liberal voters (which block vote) that will elect the same type of corrupt local officials every time there is an election. Compulsary military training of all citizens of the USA would go a long way in common sense indoctrination and unscrew this local imbalance of politics!
all we need are district seats for the city commission instead of at-large seats so that neighborhoods get to elect their own leaders. if that were the case, the northern part of the town would probably elect a conservative commissioner.
Not too sure about that solution…it may get better or the northern part of town will end up with “a go along to get along, wanna be liked commissioner”, like Bryan Desloge…we need leaders not facilitators.
I hear you. I just want something realistic and actionable that we can all push for to make this city a better place.
I would hate to go to war with most of the people who live in Tallahassee; the majority would tuck tail and run the other way to appease the enemy, whom they would considerer their friend. That being said, thank God there are a core of good people here.
Please dear God may we have justice and then elect men and women of integrity to the city commission and mayor’s office. Christians vote for Godly people, not for or against a political party. We are called to holiness in all we do.
Perhaps a petition to the Gov is in order while we wait (perhaps for years) for the conclusion of the FBI investigation.
112.51?Municipal officers; suspension; removal from office.—
(1)?By executive order stating the grounds for the suspension and filed with the Secretary of State, the Governor may suspend from office any elected or appointed municipal official for malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, incompetence, or permanent inability to perform official duties.
Interesting that the Mayor’s Brother is now involved. He would be a good source of hiding any bribes from the “Developer”. Kind of like one of our commissioners and her construction business family who then loan the commissioner money to buy an insider’s house. Hypothetically, of course.
The dominos are going to start falling soon. This will be fascinating to watch.
What did Gillum have on his calendar for the days in NY? How reliable are the “sources” providing this information?
His calendar is public record. Pretty good source. “Sources” are likely merely pointing out which records need to checked.
Oh good grief, so the guy went to New York and a Mets game. And this is considered good reporting?
In the meantime at the White House…
This guy affects Tallahassee and so far it has not been good. Smooth talker and no substance other than helping himself out.
It’s like living through a continuation of the Obama era; smile, talk a good talk and then act like everything is rainbows and seashells. Accommodate anyone with a condition, recognize the phrase microaggressions and pull off the greatest scam in political history.
Hopefully RK’s illegally permitted homeless shelter falls under this investigation. And an investigation into his “campus” land acquisitions are made public.
Hopefully Proof occupies the Edison location.
#HOPETLH
#MTGA
It’s called “ethics” … or, the lack thereof. It also may be more because the FBI deals in crime and corruption, not ethics. You are choosing to ignore the entirety of the story. My hunch is you voted for the guy, so it makes sense. An indictment of Gillum, when many of us warned of his involvement with George Soros and, more importantly, his unwillingness to talk about his work for Soros, is an indictment of the vote of many in this community. Suddenly, Gillum is not even taking questions from the unofficial PR wing of the City which is the Tallahassee Democrat.
Do you liberal take something to fog your brain or something? The FBI doesn’t investigate on a whim. Though, to folks like you, it’s probably a right-wing, racist, conspiracy funded by the Koch brothers to keep the next BHO down, correct?
Good reporting. I wonder who and how they got tickets to “Hamilton”? Have you ever tried to get tickets to this show? Someone paid a scalper a lot of money ie$1,000 a piece or had some pull.
So, the FBI posing as a developer wanting to do business in Tallahassee, paid for hotel rooms at the Hilton for the Mayor of Tallahassee, Gillum, in New York? WOW!! What is wrong with this picture? Who paid for the Mets game, airline tickets, dinners, and Hamilton? What’s going on here Andrew? Maybe Todd your new spokesman will explain it to us for you.
Breaking news on the local rag:
Corey quits all state-level lobbying.
And today: Rivers, Corey step down from leadership roles at the Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority.
This whole scenario reminds me of what cockroaches do when you turn on a light…
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK TR
“… a person named Michael Miller reserved and paid for rooms at the Millennium Hilton in New York City from August 10th through 12th.”
Is this inferring that Miller paid for Corey and Andrew’s hotel rooms? I take it to mean the alleged FBI undercover guy paid for his own room, maybe co-workers’ rooms too. We already know from the boat pic that Miller was there. So this may not be anything.
Why wouldn’t Andrew’s expenses for this trip be paid for by Soros/PFAWF?
The real story is what was said between the faux-developers and Corey/Andrew. And we may have to wait until the transcripts from any wires worn come out in a discovery motion.
The Wires!!!
I got so involved in Steve’s most excellent reporting I forgot about the wires.
There’s gonna be tons of smelly brown to hit the old fan from the wires!
Take what we have and know now – add in the dirt from the wires – and it’s gonna be a great day for truth, justice, and the American way!
Thanks News_Maven you just made my day!
Great reporting. It is refreshing to have a true investigative NewsPaper in Tally again.
Andrew Gillum will never be the Governor of Florida. That would be like electing Barack Hussein Obama as governor.
If Florida could survive Eight years of Jeb Bush… Florida could and I believe would welcome Barack Obama with open arms!!!
You might, not Florida
Are you nuts????
now that you brought it up – the people of Leon Co. WOULD elect BHO governor!
Because most of the people in Leon County are brain dead liberals.
What does President Obama have to do with this..Lawd get a life..
George Soros.
100% correct. George Soros.