Real Clear Investigations: Andrew Gillum and the Mystery of 311 East Jennings Street

Real Clear Investigations: Among the many questions about an FBI corruption probe nagging Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum – one that could follow the Democrat uptown to the governor’s mansion if he wins election next week – is something few people outside Florida are asking: What does his political rise have to do with 311 E. Jennings St.?

An arcane question, perhaps. Yet the Tallahassee address offers a window into how politics is done in Florida’s capital, and may say a lot about how the Bernie Sanders-endorsed leftist has mastered the game.

It starts with money. In the first three months after Gillum announced his bid for mayor in April 2013, the decade-serving city commissioner received $8,000 from a host of companies using that address. And businesses there have received a number of financial favors from the city and the mayor, who, as a member of the Community Redevelopment Agency Board, voted for the subsidies.

Those dealings are receiving heightened scrutiny since the FBI last year issued subpoenas to 38 individuals and companies, more than a dozen of which are connected to the Jennings Street address. Among the names on the subpoenas is Adam Corey, Gillum’s former campaign treasurer. Corey is a local lobbyist, developer and Gillum’s friend since college. Gillum, as part of the redevelopment agency, voted in 2013 to give a Corey-affiliated group $1.3 million in taxpayer money to develop a restaurant.

The ultimate aim of the investigation – and any direct connection to Gillum – remains unclear, as does its connection to a separate, ongoing state ethics probe into Gillum’s relationship with donors. The latter includes an allegation Gillum accepted from an undercover agent a ticket to see “Hamilton” on Broadway.

Gillum denies any wrongdoing. His narrowly trailing Republican opponent in the Governor’s race, Ron DeSantis, Wednesday suggested impeaching Gillum over the ethics charges.

The FBI has asked the city and the state’s revenue department for records connected to dozens of Tallahassee businesses and their owners, including bids, tax reports, and emails, as well as documents related to financial transactions between the city and those entities. Many of the records sought are connected to economic development work by private companies and tax breaks and subsidies provided to them, primarily by the Community Redevelopment Agency. The city has turned over more than 200,000 records.

A recurrent name in them, along with Jennings Street, is local businessman J.T. Burnette, a major Gillum backer who in 2014 received $883,000 in city subsidies for developing a downtown hotel. He declined to comment for this story.  more