By Karen Murphy, The Capitoline.
This week’s witnesses in the federal trial of JT Burnette, a Tallahassee businessman on trial for federal extortion and extortion, described Tallahassee’s “dirty getting things done policy”. The testimony revealed some of the real “power behind the throne” as demonstrated by Burnette and his wife Kim Rivers, CEO of medical marijuana mega-company Trulieve, and a former “rising star” in Florida democratic politics, Scott Maddox .
Burnette faces blackmail and extortion charges over a multi-year FBI investigation into political corruption in Tallahassee. Prosecutors are trying to prove Burnette arranged bribes for Maddox through Governance Services, LLC, a lobbying firm owned by Maddox’s close friend and business partner, Paige Carter-Smith.
Maddox and Carter-Smith pleaded guilty to three of the 44 crimes they were charged with following the FBI investigation in 2019. They agreed to testify against Burnette in the hope that the government would recommend a lighter sentence in their cases.
One of the three FBI undercover agents conducting the investigation, “Mike Miller,” testified for about six hours for the government Tuesday and Wednesday, then cross-examined by the defense for a day and a half.
During his testimony, video and audio were shown to the court of the Defendant Burnette attending a meeting with undercover FBI agents in a hotel suite in Nashville, Tennessee. Burnette in shorts and a baseball cap sits next to Miller. Also at the meeting, but off-screen, the other two undercover agents were “Mike Sweets” and “Brian Butler”.
Burnette believed at the time that the agents were business people who wanted to develop real estate in Tallahassee.
Miller said the meeting was to find out if Tallahassee politicians can be bought, and if so, who and how.
Burnette told agents that City Commissioner Scott Maddox – a former Tallahassee Mayor, former CEO of the Florida Democrat Party and former candidate for the Senate and governor of Florida – controlled the Tallahassee City Commission.
Burnette stated, “Scott Maddox is arguably the most cultured city and town gamer politician of all time. In order? So Scott and I have always worked on deals together, because at the end of the day Scott can always somehow steer the commission in his direction. “
Burnette told agents that when Maddox was mayor, he hired Anita Favors as city manager. She owed him and would get the commissioners to do what Maddox wanted. Burnette said Maddox did the same when he hired Rick Fernandez to replace Favors in 2015. He told agents that Maddox had taken a “strategic move” to bring Fernandez in so that he would remain loyal to Maddox even if he left the commission.
Burnette said he was the major contributor to Maddox’s political campaigns, as well as to then-mayor and later governor-candidate Andrew Gillum and all other town commissioners.
He said then-commissioners Nancy Miller and Gil Zahl could not be bought, but they could be influenced by both Maddox and Burnette’s then-girlfriend, now Mrs. Kim Rivers. He described Rivers as a real political player and said she could be very “vengeful”.
He said Miller always checked her position on a vote with Rivers first. “She (Rivers) will lead someone against you. The commissioners don’t want Kim to take action against them. It’s the perfect weapon when it’s aimed at you. “
Burnette said he gave Rivers the money she used on political contributions. He said he “buys the gun and Kim pulls the trigger”.
He said political advisor Drew Jones of Vancore Jones Communication leads the political campaigns of nearly all commissioners, and that if Rivers was dissatisfied with anyone, Jones would “lead someone else if Kim wanted”. Burnette said that at the time, Rivers, Trulieve, VancoreJones medical marijuana company was paying $ 15,000 a month in advance to VancoreJones.
Burnette told agents Miller and Digit, “are not for sale, but Scott can be bought.”
“Nothing happens for less than $ 25,000. You can buy anything for $ 100,000. You know who to pay. Scott is the guy. He wants his piece of the cake. “
Burnette said campaigns in Tallahassee can be bought for around $ 25,000 and “I have a lot of political capital. I am ready to be monetized. ”He repeated several times that he wanted to monetize his political capital.
During the trial, which began on July 13, prosecutors are attempting to prove that Burnette helped send bribes to the government from Southern Pines Development, an FBI front, in exchange for Maddox’s help with her fictional real estate business. In these deals, they reportedly wanted to spend $ 40 million or more on developing projects in Tallahassee. The bribes, four checks for $ 10,000, would go through the government to Maddox.
Miller showed receipts for each of the checks sent to Governance and said he was notified that the checks had been cashed by Governance.
According to Miller’s testimony, the agents asked Burnette if the money for governance went to Maddox.
He replied, “It’s definitely for Maddox. There’s no one in governance except Paige, who is indirectly Maddox. It is money well spent when you get a deal here. “
Defense attorney Tim Jansen cross-examined Miller tried to show that Burnette had become involved in the discussion at the Nashville meeting for fear that the businessmen would reach their potential if Burnette did not say something about how to bribe a Tallahassee politician $ 42 million investment elsewhere.
Miller told the jury that the agents “wanted to hear what the inside track is”.
Jansen countered and basically yelled at the witness, “Because if you don’t have an overview, your $ 40 million won’t come to Tallahassee. You tell Burnette that. “
Miller replied that during the conversation the agents were trying to find out who could be bribed in Tallahassee.
“If you’re at this meeting, are you pushing him to say he can bribe someone?” Jansen asked Miller.
“My job is to ask questions to see if there is something,” Miller said calmly.
Miller testified that Sweets reported that Maddox and Burnette had been discussing how they could get payments to Maddox. Miller said the agents were trying to figure out whether to mail checks or use cash.
During a taped phone call between Miller and Burnette, Miller mentioned the “whole deal” Sweets had worked out with Maddox and asked for a payment to Maddox.
“The only thing I wanted to ask you was … (sweets) told me that it would go to the government, right?” Asked Müller.
“Yes,” said Burnette. “We’ll discuss this a little more when you come into town. I’m telling you this is a good plan to start with. “
Carter-Smith and Maddox also explained to Miller how to send money on another audio tape that was played during the process.
Carter-Smith met Sweets and Butler when he was with Maddox at a football game in Florida State.
Regarding Maddox, she told Sweets, “He’s a rainmaker. He’s the talent. “
Maddox scoffed: “I am the talent.”
On the audio, Sweets asks Maddox where to send the check and Maddox replies, “To Governance”.
Carter-Smith replies, “Yes”.
_ _ _
Karen Murphy is the Capital Reporter for The Capitolist. She is an award-winning journalist covering North Florida and South Georgia.
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from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/fbi-tapes-at-the-burnette-trial-cast-an-unflattering-light-on-some-florida-political-actors-tallahassee-reports/
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