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MIAMI – Responding to a survey of the State Ethics Commission on trips he made as mayor of Tallahbadee, Andrew Gillum, Democratic candidate for Florida's governor, insisted that all his travels were overpriced, paid for by himself, his wife, or his younger brother. .
"I do not make free trips with anyone," Gillum said in a debate on Sunday.
Documents released Tuesday suggest that Mr. Gillum knowingly accepted a ticket for Broadway's "Hamilton" show, presented by men he considered businessmen seeking to develop a property in Tallahbadee – but who were in reality infiltrated by FBI agents. Records also suggest that a friend lobbyist provided a hotel room in New York to Mr. Gillum and his brother – and probably paid for most of the vacation that the mayor shared in Costa Rica.
Mr. Gillum has never reported any benefits as a gift, as required by law for elected representatives in Florida.
The lobbyist, Adam Corey, is a friend of Mr. Gillum since college and a central figure of F.B.I. investigating suspicions of corruption at the Tallahbadee Community Redevelopment Agency. Mr. Gillum stated that he had been told that he was not the target of the investigation. But his travels, made public under the F.B.I. investigation, are the subject of a separate ethical inquiry into the Mayor's travel.
"We all have friends who have sometimes let us down," Gillum said during a debate Sunday. "I'm not under F.B.I. investigation, and the government of my city either. "
The archives released on Tuesday contradicted Gillum's earlier statements on the issue of state-run ethics and put his campaign on the defensive two weeks before the November 6 elections. Mr. Gillum's travels will certainly be addressed in the second and final debate against his Republican opponent, former representative Ron DeSantis on Wednesday.
"He is not telling the truth," DeSantis said Tuesday afternoon in a Jewish grocery store in Aventura, Florida, where he was campaigning. "He got his hand in the cookie jar."
Mr. DeSantis described Mr. Gillum's actions as "corruption" because Mr. Corey is a city vendor who received public funds to redevelop a restaurant.
The newly released documents were summoned by the Florida Ethics Commission last week and made public by Mr Corey's lawyer on Tuesday.
The text messages included in the package show that Mr. Corey wrote to the Mayor on August 8, 2016 about the project to attend the show in New York. Mr. Gillum's brother, Marcus, and the three members of the FFB. agents pretending to be businessmen, one of whom identified as Mike Miller.
"Mike Miller and the crew have tickets for us in Hamilton tonight at 8 pm," Corey wrote.
"Excellent news," answered Mr. Gillum.
The texts seem to contradict the statement made by Mr. Gillum a few days after his surprise victory to the governor on August 28, stating that the show ticket came from his brother. A gift from a family member would not have triggered the ethical rules of public disclosure.
Geoff Burgan, a spokesman for Gillum's campaign, said on August 31, in response to written questions from the New York Times, that Marcus Gillum had given his ticket to the mayor. The campaign subsequently issued receipts for the trip to New York, but said that no receipt for "Hamilton" had been included, as the mayor had thought the ticket was from his brother.
"Marcus Gillum gave Mayor Gillum a ticket to see Hamilton," said the campaign on Sept. 4. "After the trip, Mayor Gillum learned that Marcus Gillum had obtained this ticket during an exchange with Adam Corey for a concert ticket."
In a statement Tuesday, Mr Gillum said that any claim that he had acted inappropriately was a political "treasure hunt" and rejected the idea that recently published text messages did not report anything foolhardy. . Instead, he seemed to suggest again that it was his brother, not him, who had acquired the ticket, because his brother had handed him the ticket to the theater. Mr. Corey's text messages, however, show that the lobbyist only spoke about the tickets to Marcus Gillum later, suggesting that the Mayor's brother played no role in obtaining them.
"These documents justify and add more evidence that, every time I paid my way or paid with my family, for all trips, including taking tickets from my brother, Marcus, who was with a group of his own friends, "Mr. Gillum said in the statement, without elaborating.
Mr. Corey's subpoena also shows that Mr. Corey offered Mr. Gillum a two-night room at the Millennium Hilton in downtown Manhattan. The rooms had been reserved by Mr. Miller, as the texts show. The agents had also organized a boat trip to New York Harbor.
Mr. Gillum, who was in New York on business, first declined the hotel room offer, but then told Mr. Corey that he needed to get a room in the hotel. a place to stay for the second night.
"I was wrong, I think I'll need a room tomorrow night," Gillum wrote to Mr. Corey on August 10, 2016.
"O.K.," replied Mr. Corey, who had previously asked Mr. Miller a separate room for himself, Mr. Gillum, and Mr. Gillum's brother. "I understood you."
Mr. Gillum eventually shared his brother's room.
The text messages also show that when planning the trip to New York, Miller asked Mr. Corey how to better communicate with Mr. Gillum directly.
"I wanted to thank AG for its support last week," wrote Miller on July 19, 2016. A few days earlier, the city commission had given the green light to expand a community redevelopment district that would benefit the city. one of Mr. Miller's members. supposed properties.
Mr. Corey gave him Mr. Gillum's cell phone number. "He's usually pretty responsive," he wrote.
Earlier that year, in May 2016, Mr. Gillum and his wife had joined Mr. Corey and other friends and their spouses in Costa Rica for a vacation in a luxury villa. Mr. Corey had won the stay at a charity auction and had invited his friends to accompany him.
Mr. Gillum's campaign produced receipts on Sept. 4 showing that the mayor and his wife, R. Jai Gillum, had paid for their plane ticket to Costa Rica and several meals at the restaurant. The campaign also provided a bank statement reporting a withdrawal of $ 400, which would have been used to reimburse Mr. Corey for the couple's housing. The campaign indicated that the villa cost about $ 1,400 a night, divided between a dozen people.
E-mails issued Tuesday by Mr. Corey's lawyer show that Gillums' share due to Mr. Corey was well over $ 400. Mr. Corey had a credit card fee of $ 8,868. When his accountant asked for billing details, Mr. Corey's badistant told Gillums the amount billed at $ 941.95. The amount is barred, however, and a note appears next to it: "HOLD ON BILLING".
Mr. Corey's lawyer, Chris Kise, said last month that Gillums had never reimbursed his client's trip, an badertion disputed by the campaign.
"Mr Corey has been unfairly and inaccurately portrayed in the media as being engaged in inappropriate or criminal actions," Kise said in a statement on Tuesday, saying the archives said "that 39, no criminal activity has taken place ".
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