The wife of former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum took to Instagram on April 26 to ask for donations while claiming her husband was being targeted politically.
Gillum is currently on trial for illegally soliciting campaign donations with his former campaign adviser, Sharon Lettman-Hicks.
R. Jai Gillum posted a message on Instagram calling her husband “a partner in the fight for justice” and a “dedicated public servant” who has worked since he was 16 years old. She also claimed Gillum was fighting against a corrupt and broken system and asked for donations for his legal fund.
“Our family is facing an unimaginable challenge,” she wrote in part. “We are fighting against a broken system that seeks to destroy our lives in the name of politics and corruption, and we need your support. Please consider donating to the Bring Justice Home Legal Defense Fund to make a significant difference in our battle to clear Andrew’s name and protect our family.”
Gillum and Lettman-Hicks are accused of funneling campaign funds to Lettman-Hicks’ company, P&P Communications, between 2016 and 2019. The indictment also claims that the funds were disguised as payroll payments and forwarded to the personal accounts of Gillum and Lettman-Hicks.
After a 21-count indictment was handed down last June, Gillum’s trial began on April 17.
The jury began deliberating on April 28 after a week-long trial in which prosecutors claimed after Gillum quit his job $120,000-a-year job to begin a gubernatorial campaign, he was desperate for money to fund his lifestyle, which included a large mortgage, two expensive cars and private school tuition for his children. They claim $60,000 was rerouted to the personal accounts.
Prosecutors also claimed that an undercover FBI agent posing as a developer reached out to Gillum’s brother Marcus Gillum to arrange illegal contributions.
Gillum denied the allegations and his lawyers David Oscar Markus and Marc Elias issued a statement saying he was innocent.
“The government got it wrong today. The evidence, in this case, is clear and will show that Mr. Gillum is innocent of all charges.”
Gillum’s defense attorney Margot Moss said during her opening arguments that Lettman-Hicks knew Gillum as a rising political star and she employed him to help drive business to her firm. Gillum narrowly lost his 2018 bid for governor to his Republican opponent against current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, two years after spoke at the 2016 Democratic National Convention as mayor of Tallahassee. Moss also contended that Marcus Gillum acted of his own accord in soliciting donations to impress his big brother.
The former gubernatorial candidate is also accused of lying to the FBI about the New York trip where Gillum, his brother and lobbyist Adam Corey met with undercover FBI agents. The FBI allegedly paid for the group’s hotels, a boat tour and “Hamilton” tickets.
According to The Associated Press, the FBI agent who paid for the New York perks testified that the agency was investigating developer J.T. Burnette originally but began investigating Gillum as they uncovered Burnette’s corruption and that of then-city Commissioner Scott Maddox.
Maddox is also a former mayor of Tallahassee mayor who ran for Florida governor. Maddox pled guilty to corruption charges, and Burnette was convicted of bribery and extortion.
In the Instagram post, Mrs. Gillum alleged that unlimited resources have been used to target her husband.
“For YEARS, unlimited resources have been used to go through our personal records and finances,” she wrote. “And all of this after repeated unsuccessful bribery attempts. Andrew and I have both worked since we were 16 years old, and to have someone assume that anything we do with our personal finances, including taking our children to Disney World, must be obtained by ill-gotten means…I just don’t have the words to explain to you how that feels.”
She also posted several other posts which read, “The Call On Your Life Isn’t Basic. Don’t Expect Your Warfare To Be,” “We don’t give up around here” and “I have survived too many storms to be concerned by a drop of rain.”
Gillum also asked for donations a week earlier.
“Please know that I am always ready to fight one more round. But I can’t win this fight alone. Grateful for the support of friends and family from all over the country,” he wrote. “Please consider supporting Bring Justice Home Legal Defense Fund.”
The former mayor was also involved in a sex scandal in March 2020.
After the paramedics were called to a hotel room in Miami Beach, they found Gillum incapacitated in a room with a male escort who’d overdosed on drugs. No charges were filed. Gillum claimed alcohol abuse and entered rehab. He later admitted to being bisexual during an interview with Tamron Hall.
“I don’t identify as gay, but I do identify as bisexual,” said Gillum. “That is something that I’ve never shared publically before.”
“So many people just don’t understand bisexuality,” added his wife. “Bisexuality is just something different. I just believe that love and sexuality exist on a spectrum. All I care about is what’s between us and what agreement we make.”
Gillmum received support in the comment section under his wife’s post with many wishing him well.
“No matter what the pundits say I voted for and believe in you all. We will prevail,” noted one.
“I have always believed what happened to your husband was a part of something bigger, more sinister, to destroy his path to governor and further,” added one supporter.
“I feel this to my core, yet so many abuse the system & it gets overlooked. The color of our skin speaks volumes,” another user wrote.
