Andrew Gillum narrowly lost the governor’s race to Republican Ron DeSantis last year. | Steve Cannon/AP Photo FBI agent may testify in ethics case against Gillum

TALLAHASSEE — An FBI agent at the center of a corruption investigation in Tallahassee may testify in the ethics case against former Florida Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum.

The lead state lawyer tasked with proving that Gillum broke the state’s ethics laws by accepting gifts from lobbyists asked an administrative judge to let undercover FBI agent “Mike Miller” testify in the case. Lawyer Elizabeth Miller, who works for Attorney General Ashley Moody, asked the court in a filing to keep Miller’s real identity secret and to let him testify by phone.


The state’s ethics commission concluded in January that there was probable cause that Gillum violated Florida’s ethics law while he was Tallahassee mayor. Gillum contends he has done nothing wrong and is challenging the findings in an administrative hearing.

Gillum narrowly lost the governor’s race to Republican Ron DeSantis last year. During the harsh campaign, DeSantis assailed Gillum over the ethics probe, which centered on trips he took to Costa Rica and New York City. Questions included who paid for tickets to a Broadway showing of the popular musical “Hamilton.”

Gillum’s trips became public after a FBI corruption investigation into the Tallahassee city government broke open in June 2017. News outlets reported that, during the Costa Rica trip, Gillum’s lobbyist friend Adam Corey set up a meeting in Tallahassee between the mayor and undercover agents posing as developers, and that Gillum also met with the agents during his time in New York City.

Gillum, who remains a rising national political star and recently announced ambitious plans to register voters in Florida ahead of the 2020 elections, has said the FBI has told him he is not a target of its investigation.

“Mike Miller” is one of the agents who was involved in the probe, which resulted in federal charges against Scott Maddox, a city commissioner and former head of the Florida Democratic Party. Maddox, who has pleaded not guilty, has been suspended from his job and is awaiting trial on multiple counts of bribery, extortion and bank fraud.

Elizabeth Miller, who is serving as the “advocate” for the Florida Commission on Ethics, said in a March 29 court filing she “anticipates” calling “Mike Miller” to testify about his “interactions” with Gillum and his companions “up to and including” the trip to New York City. She told the administrative judge that public disclosure of his identity would jeopardize other investigations. She asked to let him testify by telephone, or if he has to appear in court, to allow him to either testify behind a screen or let him wear a disguise.

Miller also on Monday filed a witness list that said she may call both “Mike Miller” and another FBI agent named “Mike Sweets” to testify in the Gillum case. In the witness list, Miller wrote that “Mike Miller” would say that “he paid for the activities attended by Andrew Gillum during the New York City trip in August 2016.”

Barry Richard, an attorney representing Gillum, said he has no objections to keeping Miller’s identity secret.

“We would like to hear what Mr. Miller has to say,” Richard said in an interview Monday. “We will think it will support Mr. Gillum’s position.”

It’s not clear how soon the administrative judge will rule on the request to keep the identity of “Mike Miller” secret.

There is also a push by the ethics commission advocate to delay the trial, which is officially called a “final hearing,” to August. The final hearing is now scheduled for late April.

Court filings show Miller wants the delay because Chris Kise, a well-known Tallahassee lawyer who represents Adam Corey, was recently admitted to a hospital due to cardiac issues. Elizabeth Miller says Corey’s testimony is “critical” to the case and is “necessary to a fair and adequate presentation.”

Corey, who at one time was close friends with Gillum, turned over information to ethics commission investigators that contradicted Gillum’s previous statements on the trips. Corey, for example, contends he was never paid by Gillum for four nights at a luxury villa in Costa Rica.

But attempts to subpoena Corey for a deposition has so far been unsuccessful. In his own court filing, Richard said that a process server was told by Corey he was out of the country and “could not give a date of return.” Kise, meanwhile, has said he cannot accept a subpoena on Corey’s behalf.

Richard wants the final hearing to go forward as originally scheduled without Corey’s participation.

“We have had no cooperation with Corey or Kise,” said Richard, adding that Corey and Kise “have absolutely stonewalled."

He added: “You can’t just put off a case because a witness says they are going to be there.”