Andrew Gillum Hit with Federal Subpoena for Campaign Records

Florida Democrat Andrew Gillum, whose failed gubernatorial bid against Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) turned him into a darling among progressives, is the “focal point of a recently issued” federal subpoena, according to a report.

The Tampa Bay Times reported Thursday that a federal grand jury is seeking information regarding his campaign, along with matters related to a non-profit and a wealthy donor. The subpoena reportedly requests information on Donald Sussman, who contributed $1.5 million to Gillum’s campaign, and Sharon Lettman-Hicks, the CEO of African-American LGBTQ-rights organization National Black Justice Commission.

Prosecutors want information regarding John H. Jackson, CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education. Gillum served as a board member of the charity until March 2017. The Florida Democrat also served as president of a related non-profit, Opportunity to Learn Action Fund, until 2017. The subpoena asks for documents on Gillum’s political action committee Forward Florida and his midterm 2018 campaign.

Last month, Gillum settled a state ethics case, agreeing to pay a $5,000 fine for receiving gifts from a lobbyist.

He was also Tallahassee’s mayor during an FBI corruption investigation into city hall that led to three arrests earlier this year. Gillum claimed during the campaign he wasn’t a target in that investigation.

In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, Gillum said that his campaign “complied fully with the law.”

“We ran an open and honest campaign. A campaign powered by thousands of volunteers and supporters. A campaign that captured imaginations and earned over four million votes,” he said. “When you run a campaign that puts the power in the hands of the people, and fights for change, it inevitably invites close scrutiny, regardless of the facts.”

In March Gillum announced he wants to register at least one million voters in an effort to make the state swing blue in the 2020 presidential race. He told supporters at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens that Democrats must now begin to actively engage voters ahead of the 2020 Presidential primary. “What is happening in Washington, D.C., is not normal,” Gillum said at the time. “We can deny Donald Trump a second term right here in the state of Florida.”

Earlier this year, Gillum signed with CNN as a political analyst.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.