Personality

Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump attempts to crowdfund Andrew Gillum legal defense

Crump is helping to raise money to fight corruption charges against the former gubernatorial candidate.

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum leaves a federal courthouse in June after being indicted.

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum leaves a federal courthouse in June after being indicted. News Service of Florida files

Civil-rights attorney Ben Crump is now seeking donations for a legal defense fund for Andrew Gillum, the former Democratic nominee for Florida governor who is facing federal public corruption charges. 

In an email dated Thursday shared with City & State on Friday, the Tallahassee-based and nationally known Crump calls Gillum, his longtime friend and former Tallahassee mayor, “innocent” and “a man of integrity and a champion for the people.” Crump is not representing Gillum, whose case is being handled by Miami’s Markus/Moss law firm. 

Benjamin Crump accepts the Social Justice Impact Award onstage during the 54th NAACP Image Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on February 25, 2023 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

“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.”

Gillum was charged with conspiracy and wire fraud in a longstanding FBI probe into political corruption at Tallahassee City Hall. Gillum and former business partner (and now co-defendant) Sharon Lettman-Hicks were indicted last June on charges they illegally solicited and pocketed donations to his 2018 campaign, according to reporting by the Tallahassee Democrat. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial is set for April.

Gillum won an upset primary victory against former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham for the Democratic nomination but went on to lose to now-Gov. Ron DeSantis in a general election so close it triggered an automatic recount. Gillum had been hosting a podcast, “Real Talk with Andrew Gillum,” on Quake Media, but the company no longer lists it on its website. 

Gillum was paying his legal costs out of his old political committee, Forward Florida. But earlier this year, committee treasurer Yolanda Brown filed a letter with the state Division of Elections to say the committee was being “disbanded effective immediately.” The fundraising panel – which had amassed almost $39 million since its creation in early 2016 – had about $125,000 left. The committee essentially ceased raising money by early 2020, and its last major expenditure of $440,000 was in July to Gillum’s criminal defense team.

His lawyers on Friday criticized the government keeping the names of witnesses, including FBI agents, confidential. In a motion, they said the agents "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." It added that the agent witnesses "have big credibility problems. The government wants to ... keep from the public how it makes cases with law enforcement agents who have flouted the law. These matters should be open and not secret."

Crump calls out Donald Trump for comments on social media

In his email, Crump noted comments posted last year by former president Donald Trump to his social media network, Truth Social. “In the posts, Trump stated that he sent in the FBI and U.S Attorney's Office to stop the 2018 gubernatorial election from being ‘stolen’ from Ron DeSantis. This raises serious questions about what exactly Trump directed the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office to do and whether it is related to the prosecution of Mayor Gillum.” 

He went on: “We have also recently learned that the lead prosecutor (Stephen Kunz) behind investigating and charging Mayor Gillum has suddenly ‘retired’ from the U.S. Attorney's office just weeks before the Gillum case is set to go to trial. Something stinks here!”

Gillum could not be reached Friday. Requests for comment are pending with Crump’s spokesperson and with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, which is prosecuting Gillum. 

In a recent statement, however, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Kunz “retired at the end of 2022 after 46 years of service as a state and federal prosecutor, which retirement had been long planned for many months.”

A federal judge already has refused to dismiss charges of lying to the FBI and wire fraud against Gillum, while also short-circuiting his lawyers’ contention that he is a victim of selective prosecution.

Crump, who recently received the NAACP's Social Justice Impact Award, has for years represented families of people killed in police custody, including George Floyd in Minneapolis and Tyre Nichols in Memphis. He attended a January rally in the Capitol where he threatened to sue Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s rejection of an African American studies course.

Contact Jim Rosica at jrosica@cityandstatefl.com and follow him on Twitter: @JimRosicaFL

NEXT STORY: This week’s biggest Winners & Losers

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.