Analysis: How an FBI investigation and a broken relationship tanked Andrew Gillum's campaign
MIAMI — It would be another 30 months before he'd know it, but Andrew Gillum's campaign for Florida governor was over before it even began, killed in the spring of 2016 by poisoned filet mignon, twice-baked sweet potatoes and Southern-style strawberry shortcake.
In the two-story All Saints apartment of Tallahassee lobbyist Adam Corey, Gillum, the mayor of the city, welcomed a few dozen consultants, businessmen and supporters to the first fundraiser for a political committee that would go on to fuel his as-yet announced statewide run. The $37,400 haul was modest, all things considered. People who attended barely remember the scene. But the food and spirits, prepared and provided by Corey's 101 Restaurant and Mint Lounge and billed to out-of-town developer Mike Miller, would prove memorable.
The quiet event remained unremarkable for more than two years. And it could have been nothing more than a footnote in the historic campaign of Florida's would-be first African-American governor had Corey not turned on Gillum, his former friend, in the fallout of an FBI investigation. Just days before Tuesday's election, Corey dumped emails appearing to show that Miller — now known to be an undercover agent — had been sent a bill (and a "thank you" note) for the catering.
Heaped onto a growing pile of baggage, the revelation appeared to damage the Tallahassee mayor just enough to undercut Gillum's campaign-trail claims that he was not under investigation by the FBI as the federal authority spent months seeking out corruption in Florida's capital city. Already sputtering from emails and text messages that showed he took a Manhattan boat ride with Miller and Corey in New York in August of 2016 and went to a Broadway showing of "Hamilton" on a ticket purchased by Miller, Gillum's campaign lost its rudder and stalled just shy of the finish line.
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