ol boy messing around and got caught out there...

one of the dudes is a male escort apparently and folks already poking holes in Gillum story.
https://heavy.com/news/2020/03/travis-dyson/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/13/andrew-gillum-miami-democrat-linked-meth-overdose-florida-hotel/5042631002/

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Andrew Gillum, Tallahassee's telegenic former mayor and the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, was involved in a meth overdose incident early Friday morning in a Miami Beach hotel room.

It was an embarrassing and devastating blow to Gillum, a long-serving former city commissioner and mayor who still harbored ambitions of becoming governor one day.

A Miami Beach Police Department report says officers were called to a West Avenue hotel around 1 a.m. and found Gillum there with two other men, one of whom was being treated for a possible drug overdose. Gillum was too inebriated to speak with officers, though he was later reported in stable condition and with normal vital signs.

Police found plastic baggies of suspected crystal meth on the bed and floor of the hotel room, the report says. But Gillum, in a prepared statement issued shortly after news broke, denied using the drug and offered an apology.

"I was in Miami last night for a wedding celebration when first responders were called to assist one of my friends,” Gillum said in the written release. “While I had too much to drink, I want to be clear that I have never used methamphetamines. I apologize to the people of Florida for the distraction this has caused our movement.”

Early voting:Andrew Gillum mum on Democratic presidential endorsement as he focuses on early voting

“I’m thankful to the incredible Miami Beach EMS team for their efforts. I will spend the next few weeks with my family and appreciate privacy during this time," Gillum added.

One of the three men, identified as the complainant, told officers that he arrived at the hotel room around 11 p.m. “where he discovered (the other man) and Andrew Gillum inside the room under the influence of an unknown substance.”

He said the other man with Gillum opened the hotel room door before walking to the bed and collapsing in a prone position. He also saw Gillum in the bathroom vomiting. He also said he tried to rouse the other man awake after he began having trouble breathing. After that man collapsed again, the complainant performed chest compressions on him and called police and Fire Rescue.

Officers tried to speak with Gillum but were unsuccessful. “Mr. Gillum was unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state,” the report says.

But when Fire Rescue workers went back to the hotel to check on Gillum later, he appeared fine.

“Fire Rescue stated that he was in stable condition and his vitals were normal,” the report says. “Mr. Gillum left the hotel room and returned to his residence without incident.”

The police report says first responders found suspected drugs at the scene.

“Inside of the hotel room, officers observed in plain sight three small clear plastic baggies containing suspected crystal meth on both the bed and floor,” the report says. “The three small baggies of suspected narcotics were impounded at the Miami Beach Police Station Property and Evidence Unit for destruction.”

Ernesto Rodriguez, a spokesman for Miami Beach PD, provided a copy of the report to the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network. No arrests were made.

“At this time the incident is not being investigated as a criminal matter,” Rodriguez said.

Gillum did not answer a phone call. Some of his top advisers and spokespeople did not respond to texts or phone calls before the news broke.

Married with three children, Gillum has maintained a high profile since his bitter loss two years ago to Republican Ron DeSantis. After capturing the national spotlight during the campaign, he launched an ambitious effort to register voters ahead of this year’s election.

He is a frequent face on CNN and has appeared as a panelist during recent Democratic primary coverage.

However, Gillum is no stranger to scandal. His gubernatorial campaign began to falter late in the campaign after revelations surfaced about his interactions with lobbyists and undercover FBI agents during out-of-town trips.

The case was first reported on Twitter by Candace Owens, a conservative commentator, and author.

Miami PD provided a copy of the police report, though Gillum's address, date of birth and other information was redacted.

An unredacted copy was tweeted by Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics that included Gillum's address and date of birth. That information matched information at the Leon County Supervisor of Elections and Property Appraisers offices.

Ethics Penalties:Cutting backlog by half, Gov. Ron DeSantis imposes ethics penalties on Andrew Gillum, others

so i'll wait for the investigation to finish

*facepalm* *eyeroll*

This plus the the ethics violations from when he was mayor will probably close the door on him.

It's too bad. I voted for him for governor and thought he had a ton of potential.

Anybody can come back.

I believe the old adage is “in politics you can come back from anything other than getting caught with a live boy or a dead girl”

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

>He said the other man with Gillum opened the hotel room door
>before walking to the bed and collapsing in a prone position.

https://media.giphy.com/media/e1ESXynAnueNG/giphy.gif

Travis is a white gay man with a bunch of naked pics online

Mess. Or at least been powerful enough to keep this under wraps lol

down the Democrats in Florida with him if he were in office now.

I mean... dude fell for it but what dude opens the door like that when there is a guy with everything to lose in the room.

https://media.giphy.com/media/61VB8lVkC9xvhhEME8/giphy.gif

Tweeting about crystal meth and orgies. Presidential

when he first started blowing up, he mentioned dude was gay. Tallahassee is a small town but I didn't really think much of it at the time.

It reminded me that it is hard for outsiders to assess local politics. There is always a lot we will never know by reading national news sources.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Looks like Gillum was doing more than "just drinking before a wedding" lol.


-->

Okay so if they suspected it was meth, why didn't the cops whip out one of those little test kit things and run it? I watch too much First 48 and Live PD but...

if he wasn't using, this could be sketchier

Right....Because you KNOW Miami PD of all police departments have drug test kits come on now

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

mans laid up, dick out, lying in his own vomit
its a wrap. go ahead and resign

>mans laid up, dick out, lying in his own vomit
>its a wrap. go ahead and resign

the way black twitter/media is dancing at this man's downfall tho, too (not saying you are, but I just saw the pic too and you upped the post so I'm gonna vent lol).

Like, first of all, it's so obvious from the pic that he was set up... who the hell's feet were those, I thought the escort OD'd?? And the way his hand was being stepped on by that white/non-black foot was just so ugh... the sheer *dominance* as they took that pic to expose him. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Plus the pic itself appears to be a screenshot from the phone of whoever took that pic. Just damn.

In his statement about checking into rehab, he mentioned growing up in a household where there was alcoholism and how he is coming to terms with his own substance abuse... which he acknowledged may also relate to deeper struggles he is facing. I took this to be an obvious nod to challenges he's having with his sexuality which have now been exposed.

I really feel for his wife and kids of course, but I hope he himself will be ok. As in, I hope he's on suicide watch be ok :( Like this is deep dark stuff stemming all the way back to this man's childhood. And then to have it weaponized against him like this? While being one of the highest profile black male politicians from the south? For folks to be saying shit like "FL dodged a bullet" and "imagine this guy came within 35000 votes of being Governor of FL"... as if he's some worthless trash now?? The racist (and homphobic!) undertones make my skin crawl.

There hasn't been a Black American Governor of a southern state since the Reconstruction era. There hasn't been a *dark-skinned* Black American governor in the US period. Like this just killed half the pipeline. Hope Jaime Harrison does well in SC, at least that'd be a gain. That's Senate tho.

You get what I mean tho.

But we have to acknowledge how Abrams and Gillum went against the mold for higher office

i dont care about him being gay. or being an alcoholic. or being on meth. or hiring escorts. if any of those are indeed true. people can make their own lil personal judgement on those and none of those violate any moral code of conduct for me personally. and they def dont make you a bad person imo.

but im mad that he was moving around so loosely knowing how important he is to a lot of people and how many sharks were circling to bring him down.

dude just shoulda had his thinking cap on tighter.

his public image is destroyed and these right wing assholes are dancing in the endzone. and it was all so easily avoidable.

I don't give a shit about him being gay. Though I am concerned about the substance abuse the recklessness is really problematic.

>i dont care about him being gay. or being an alcoholic. or
>being on meth. or hiring escorts. if any of those are indeed
>true. people can make their own lil personal judgement on
>those and none of those violate any moral code of conduct for
>me personally. and they def dont make you a bad person imo.
>
>but im mad that he was moving around so loosely knowing how
>important he is to a lot of people and how many sharks were
>circling to bring him down.
>
>dude just shoulda had his thinking cap on tighter.
>
>his public image is destroyed and these right wing assholes
>are dancing in the endzone. and it was all so easily
>avoidable.
>
>

that's the nature of addiction and a symptom of the issue

It's sad all around and relative to the behavior of Republicans this week (and really any week) it's honestly a non-issue for me. I hope he gets whatever help is needed and can emerge from this shit healthier and stronger.

Crackers are gonna cracker with this so not much can be done there. He could have been in that room preaching the word of Jesus and these devils would try and hem him up anyway.

We don't know that dude. We just know the image of him. So we don't know what type of dumb situations he would get himself into.

He was definitely hanging with people who didn't have his best interest at heart, but that doesn't make it a setup.

I know a couple of cats who are rising political stars and I am like you are bugging for all the stuff you do. It wouldn't matter if you was joe office guy, but you can't run for office and doing some of the wild stuff you doing.

Like all the stuff someone else said about this doesn't make him a bad person, and lots of people have to deal with being closeted, drug addict, bad homes, etc. and that doesn't make them bad people. But dude was hella irresponsible and didn't live up to the image of himself that HE wanted other people to have.

I got people on my FB copping pleas for him and blaming society for this outcome but that's BS. We got to be responsible enough to say he fucked up AND feel bad for him.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

wasn't.

That picture, at the very least, wasn't consensual. What are some humane reasons that folks would snap pics of someone passed out in their own vomit w/ their dicks out?? They were gonna post it up on ig with a friendly caption? Frame it and hang it in the veranda? Lol come on now. I don't think suspecting there was a setup to expose him is that outlandish at all. And it can be true along with everything you're saying.

Other thing is, to be clear, I have zero problem with acknowledging he fucked up. Of course he did. I agree with Reeq that he should have been more careful, among other things. But that doesn't mean sympathy for what he's enduring is "copping pleas", or that the blatant racist and homophobic tones in the way he's being dragged online equates to BS. It's real shit and to some, sad as hell. Yes he's a public figure but beyond that he's still a human being. That's cool if you don't see the tragedy in his alcoholism and sexuality being weaponized against him but it doesn't mean people that do are being unreasonable.

>wasn't.
>
>That picture, at the very least, wasn't consensual. What are
>some humane reasons that folks would snap pics of someone
>passed out in their own vomit w/ their dicks out??


So the answer is you are right. Who ever took those picture took them with malicious intent. I'm just saying you can't run for the highest office in Florida and not know that you can't hang with anyone who wants to buy you drinks. I know I can't get too bent at the office holiday party, a Black Male politician HAS to know you can't have a hotel part with Randos that you can't trust. Rookie NBA players know you can't party with everyone, a future president has to know he can't do that.





They were
>gonna post it up on ig with a friendly caption? Frame it and
>hang it in the veranda? Lol come on now. I don't think
>suspecting there was a setup to expose him is that outlandish
>at all. And it can be true along with everything you're
>saying.
>
>Other thing is, to be clear, I have zero problem with
>acknowledging he fucked up. Of course he did. I agree with
>Reeq that he should have been more careful, among other
>things. But that doesn't mean sympathy for what he's enduring
>is "copping pleas", or that the blatant racist and homophobic
>tones in the way he's being dragged online equates to BS. It's
>real shit and to some, sad as hell. Yes he's a public figure
>but beyond that he's still a human being. That's cool if you
>don't see the tragedy in his alcoholism and sexuality being
>weaponized against him but it doesn't mean people that do are
>being unreasonable.


I have a lot of sympathy for this dude and even more for his family. I sincerely hope the best for him but I'm still mad at him for letting us down. Which is a very black family thing.


>
>
>


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Up everywhere

I work with sex workers, active drug users & people in recovery.

1. many MANY cis-men whether gay or straight are actually getting set up for sexual assault (I individually have had to counsel & assist with at least 2-3 a year)

2. taking photos during an encounter is a way to ensure your safety as a sex worker. Some do so prior and alert their person they're doing so. Some are forced to do so after/during and hidden or under duress due to safety issues or concerns, unfortunately

3. anyone who takes a photo during or after in a scene as described has no good intentions in mind at all

so whether it was a political hit or not, taking photos of an encounter with someone who is inebriated is a breach of trust and to me unethical

that is a setup.

especially because there is the possibility of litigation/legal issues for what was going on

for somethign like this



no one is talking about news that aint about that Rona

What on earth would we do with that scandal in 2020?

Dude actually tried to run for re-election too. Before they even found her body and fully exonerated him, if I recall. That's got to be the gold standard for your analogy here, even if he did lose.

This is the kind of thing the Soviets used to do to trap people and then use them as assets.

But it was only possible because this is almost certainly what he's into. If it was a pure, 100% set-up he would not be putting it on depression and then checking into rehab. He'd be screaming from the hilltops that it's all bullshit and be providing receipts.

He can bounce back, though. But he'll have to come out and own up to the extent of his drug abuse. His calling might not be in elected office but in political analysis or lobbying or something.

To ruin his political career....I don’t think anyone is saying the “set up” is what you are talking about

He'll start being invited back to CNN soon, I bet.


>He can bounce back, though. But he'll have to come out and own
>up to the extent of his drug abuse. His calling might not be
>in elected office but in political analysis or lobbying or
>something.

https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1305516128257609730

whatever you say brotha.
sidenote: i would've bet money this shit went down in last summer. 2020 has been long as FUCK

Besides her it’s not really important right now.

He needs to find a hobby cause it’s over for him politically.

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

=========================================
I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad

I considered the idea that his eyes were red from crying but... my eye LIDS don’t usually get red from crying.

That feels like 2 years ago to me.

Mind blown. Weird year.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/andrew-gillum-desantis-2018-opponent-faces-indictment-rcna34676

Andrew Gillum, the once-rising Florida Democratic star who narrowly lost the 2018 governor’s race to Ron DeSantis, was hit with a 21-count federal indictment Wednesday for wire fraud, related conspiracy charges and making false statements.

Gillum, the former Tallahassee mayor, was charged along with his mentor, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, for fraudulently fundraising from "various entities" between 2016 to 2019, according to a Department of Justice press release. The Justice Department said the two allegedly diverted some of the money to a company controlled by Lettman-Hicks, who fraudulently disguised the funds as payroll payments to Gillum.

In a written statement, Gillum and his lawyers proclaimed his innocence. Lettman-Hicks — a candidate for a state House seat — has not returned texts or calls from NBC News requesting comment.

“I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people,” Gillum said. “Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power. There’s been a target on my back ever since I was the mayor of Tallahassee. They found nothing then, and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now.”

The indictment marks a new low for Gillum, a married father of three who withdrew from public life as a political leader and a paid CNN commentator after a March 2020 sex scandal involving a suspected male overdose victim in a South Beach hotel.

We can’t do what they do when in office.

They’ll dig into our shit just to avoid looking at their own.

Not saying he is innocent but gotdamn he can’t catch a break.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

state dems were worried about nominating him because of all the shit he had hanging over him as mayor of tallahassee.

he was already caught out there soliciting/accepting hamilton tickets from an influence peddler and was the subject of a state ethics investigation. that seems like small potatoes compared to all this.

there were 2 other safe dem 'establishment' options in the race. gillum ran as a bernie sanders acolyte progressive and capitalized on the other candidates splitting the moderate vote. then when he won the primary he ditched the progressive act and went back to the way he had been all along lol.

When I saw Gillum have that moment at the convention I was psyched and was texting my boy from Tallahassee who is heavy in local and state Politics and he was like "nah" and threw shade that I didn't understand at the time but became clear when the scandal hit that all the local folks knew he had sugar in his tank.

I got a homey in NYC who keeps giving money to Nina Turner despite all the times the local Ohio people keep rejecting her.

I trust local voters waaaay more than a politicians ability to go viral and generate twitter buzz.


**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

the media likes to treat desantis like he was some unbeatable political force for some reason...but people forget he only won by .4% of the vote. extremely tight.

gillum had bernie come down and openly campaign for him in the primary. and bernie took credit for gillums primary win. so even when gillum tried to tack toward the center in the general...repubs just peppered him with ads about bernie and socialism (repubs most potent attack nationwide in 2018). gillum ended up underperforming with latino and black voters. and its not hard to see where a less 'socialist-friendly' candidate would have made up that .4% margin.

its funny cuz in 2020 (after gillum was done milking progressives)...gillum was pretty clearheaded about what florida voters (particularly latinos) thought of bernie...
https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1235580200227762176

but yeah...its usually best to listen to the state party. theres a ton of races (especially with the way candidates can raise funds from donors across the country now)...where a weaker general election candidate does a better job of catching the attention of a national audience and gets boosted through the primary because of that out-of-state money and volunteer network.

If Gillum underperformed with black voters, how would a more generic dem make that up ? If they lost black voters to Gillum in the primary, where does the extra Black enthusiasm come from that voted for Gillum ?

Was Bill Nelson "socialist friendly, because he underperformed with Latinos ?

only lost by 0.17 (vs .4).

ran against a harder opponent in the pretty popular incumbent governor of florida (vs non-incumbent desantis).

and nelson had thousands of votes wiped away by a ballot design 'mistake' (hi florida) that listed his race in an area where a lot of voters didnt see it.
https://twitter.com/MarcACaputo/status/1064491078181666816

so he did better than gillum and arguably would have won if not for that ballot fuckup.

Bill Nelson had the moderate less socialist friendly boxes checked plus Scott had baggage.

The flip side to the bad ballot argument is Bill Nelson could have lost even if the total votes were the same.

>If Gillum underperformed with black voters, how would a more
>generic dem make that up ? If they lost black voters to
>Gillum in the primary, where does the extra Black enthusiasm
>come from that voted for Gillum ?
>
>Was Bill Nelson "socialist friendly, because he underperformed
>with Latinos ?
>
>


http://art-------school.com/

https://ibb.co/k4m6n8C

who a more moderate dem traditionally does a better job of appealing to.

http://art-------school.com/

https://ibb.co/k4m6n8C

n/m

DeSantis wasn't unbeatable, but he also was clearly the heir apparent to the Rick Scott (who was governor for damn near a decade) style Florida GOP that still dominates Florida politics. That Gillum even got within a half percentage point of DeSantis was remarkable, given the political dynamics of Florida which steers center-right and rarely (if ever) elects Dems who aren't moderate. Reminded me of Beto just narrowly losing to Cruz in an election which shouldn't have been that close given the conventional political dynamics of the state.

You keep bringing up Bernie as if he was Gillum's campaign manager or something lol. Yes, Bernie endorsed him and campaigned for him. You know who else did? Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton (and essentially every other prominent Dem figure) and were far more visible around Gillum's campaign. Gillum was anointed as the next generation Democrat that could synthesize the left. He never was considered to be a "progressive" per se - but he was seen more as a bridge builder within the party.

But this idea that Bernie was somehow the most prominent force in his campaign is simply not true. You could easily say that his loss meant that voters rejected Clinton & Obama as well - but that wouldn't be accurate either. Florida is a state (like many states) with rapidly evolving electorates that are becoming less predictable, but still dominated by the boomer voting bloc. However that won't be the case forever.

Def agree with the point about Gillum just eating up all the endorsements and acting like he's a politician for everyone (whether moderate or progressive). He had charisma and was adept at navigating political divides, but you also never really knew where his principles were at -- and I think ultimately he probably didn't know what his "why" was for being in politics, other than it was a limelight he liked to be in.

Also important to note that Latinos in Florida (particularly older ones) have a very distinctive brand of political identity, given that many are in Florida via LatAm/Cuba where they lived under failed communist/hard socialist states. What's interesting is that there's now a younger LatAm emerging that has lived under failed right-wing governments as well, creating ripples in the electorate. LatAm in general is now shifting to the left, just punctuated by Duque's failed right-wing administration and the end of multi-decade Uribismo in Colombia. They just elected Gustavo Petro (an Olaf Scholz/Bernie Sanders style social democrat) with his VP being the first Afro-Colombian ever elected to high-office (Francia Márquez). She's also a renowned environmentalist and champion of indigenous/afro-colombia representing a segment of that electorate that has been flatly ignored for decades. That's a huge change signifying younger Latino voters reflecting a different experience than their parents. If Bolsonaro falls in Brazil (which seems likely) - South America will be almost exclusively run by left-leaning administrations. I think those political tradewinds in LatAm will influence part of the Latino/a electorate here in the US, just like it has with generations past who grew up in the Castro/Chavez/Lula era.


-->

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/former-tallahassee-mayor-and-gubernatorial-candidate-and-associate-charged-conspiracy

I'm always a little curious how these career civil servants, who lose elections and are no longer employed elsewhere--beyond (assumed) paid appearances/book deals--continue to seemingly live so well.

Hopefully the DOJ's list of targets for similar crimes is a long one. No way this is out of the ordinary among failed politicians.

outside of book deals and speaker fees, there are just a ton of paying boards and lobbyist like jobs.

There should be no reason to resort to this type of tom foolery.

**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"