Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
DeSantis blasts Gillum for trips with FBI.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis is ramping up attacks on his opponent Andrew Gillum, accusing him of going on “junkets” with undercover FBI agents.
DeSantis lashed into Gillum after a meeting this week with business leaders in West Palm Beach.
“Something is not right here,” DeSantis told reporters. “He’s got a lot of questions to answer, but the last thing we need is to take cronyism in Tallahassee city government and put it into Tallahassee and the state government.”
Gillum, the mayor of Tallahassee, has not been implicated in the multi-year FBI corruption investigation into city government, but that didn’t stop DeSantis from saying Gillum is at “the center of ” the probe.
DeSantis criticized Gillum for trips he took in 2016 to New York City with two undercover FBI agents and to Costa Rica with lobbyist friends.
The Costa Rica trip is being investigated by the Florida Commission on Ethics. Gillum produced receipts in an attempt to prove he paid his own way, including a bank statement that showed a $400 cash withdrawal he says he used to pay for his accommodations.
Gillum says he stayed four nights at the $1,400-a-night villa, which he shared with his wife and about 11 other people. Assuming they paid full price, Gillum and his wife’s share would have been about $933.
DeSantis questioned Gillum’s documentation.
“I am a Hilton Honors Diamond member,” DeSantis said. “I could not get the Hampton Inn for four nights for only $400.”
Carlie Waibel, a spokeswoman for the Gillum campaign, said “cash the mayor and his wife had on hand” was used to pay the difference. The campaign has not disclosed whom Gillum paid for the accommodations.
Christopher Kise, an attorney for the lobbyist Adam Corey, disputed in an interview with The Associated Press that Gillum paid his client for the lodging. He told the AP that Corey won a stay at the villa through a charity auction, and he had not received any money from Gillum to date.
Gillum told the Tallahassee Democrat he cut ties with Corey — a college friend — late last year.
Gillum’s campaign has fired back against DeSantis. In a tweet, Gillum called DeSantis “unstable and untrustworthy,” referencing a video of DeSantis having a testy exchange with a reporter who was asking about racist views held by some of his supporters.