Prosecutor reportedly sent dossier to FBI
EVANSVILLE — Federal prosecutor Zachary Myers said he forwarded a lengthy, citizen-prepared dossier to the FBI alleging former Evansville mayoral candidate Gabe Whitley committed a slew of campaign finance violations months before federal agents searched Whitley's Indianapolis home last week.
That's according to emails and documents obtained by the Courier & Press, which detail a long-running effort by attorney and Republican political activist Abdul-Hakim Shabazz and others to see Whitley, a self-described "MAGA" conservative who has since moved to Indianapolis, run out of state politics.
Gabrielle Kendall, wife of WIBC radio host Rob Kendall, prepared the 58-page report in November that compiles Whitley's political history, finances, donor activity and civil litigation − including a since-dismissed lawsuit against the Evansville Courier & Press − in an apparent effort to prove that Whitley skirted disclosure requirements.
In 2022, Rob Kendall sued Whitley for defamation after Whitley allegedly called the Indianapolis talk show host a pedophile, a claim Whitley has denied. A Vanderburgh County judge later dismissed the suit, a decision Kendall has challenged, court records show.
The Courier & Press reviewed a copy of the Kendall-prepared document, which draws from a bevy of sources such as legal filings, Federal Election Commission filings and public records obtained from databases.
On Dec. 1, Shabazz sent an email to Myers, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana regarding Whitley: “I wanted to float something by you that may be of interest," Shabazz wrote, according to a copy of the email reviewed by the Courier & Press.
The Southern District of Indiana includes Evansville and Indianapolis.
"I believe Indiana may have a 'George Santos'-related issue," Shabazz continued.
In October, a grand jury indicted then-congressman Santos (R-New York) on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy and other federal offenses for an alleged scheme to commit identity theft and charge donors' credit cards without their knowledge, attracting a storm of media coverage and calls for Santos to resign.
"I believe Gabriel Whitley, a candidate for Congress in the 7th Congressional District, may have filed fraudulent campaign finance reports, specifically listing contributions to donors who do not exist," Shabazz wrote to Myers. "I've attached a packet of information for your office to review."
That email included a digital copy of the 58-page dossier compiled by Gabrielle Kendall, one of at least two detailed reports she has crafted regarding Whitley and his political work, the Courier & Press found.
"Thanks for reaching out," Myers wrote to Shabazz in a Dec. 8 email, records show. "I've shared this information with the FBI. I hope all is well."
A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesperson, Kelsie Clayton, declined to answer questions Tuesday about the email exchange or the "packet" Shabazz sent to Myers, writing in a statement that, "The United States Attorney’s Office does not confirm or deny the existence of any investigation."
During an interview this week, Shabazz claimed he forwarded the report to federal law enforcement in part because he felt "there's something wrong here."
Shabazz, an attorney, radio show host and political commentator, also sought public office − he was a Republican candidate for Indianapolis mayor in 2023, but didn't win the primary.
Like Kendall, Shabazz filed a defamation lawsuit against Whitley, though this one was in Marion County Circuit Court and is ongoing.
Report utilized open-source info and public records
The document Shabazz sent to Myers includes an account of Whitley’s entanglements with various credit collection agencies, alleged campaign finance violations and a detailed breakdown of his political fundraising activities, information gleaned from dozens of public sources.
Gabrielle Kendall wrote in one of the Whitley reports that she utilizes opensource intelligence methods, which refer to a set of practices whereby a person, organization or government leverages public information − such as social media posts, court records and image repositories − to conduct an investigation or assess information.
As of last year, Gabrielle Kendall found that only three donors named in Whitley's FEC filings listed Indiana addresses while 66 were reported as outof-state donors, comprising more than 95% of all donors listed, according to one of the report's findings.
Gabrielle Kendall went a step further by cross-checking the names and personal information associated with donors whose listed occupations would require professional licenses with public licensing databases. She found few matches.
“There are six donors who are reported to have occupations which require professional licensing to practice their profession in the state where their mailing address is listed as being located,” the report states on page 12, before going on to state that none of the six donors appeared to have the kinds of licenses their professions would require.
Federal agents searched Whitley's home in Indianapolis on July 17, more than half a year after Shabazz forwarded the report to Myers in an email exchange. According to an IndyStar account, an occupant of Whitley's home said agents confiscated Whitley's electronic devices.
The FBI declined to comment on the subject of its investigation.
Phone calls, emails and a voice message to phone numbers and addresses publicly associated with Whitley went unanswered, but he has repeatedly taken to social media to vent his outrage toward law enforcement and his perceived enemies.
After initially praising law enforcement in a Facebook post the day of the search, Whitley appeared to make an about-face on Monday and excoriated the U.S. Department of Justice, Shabazz and the news media for what he said were efforts to "frame" him for unspecified "crimes." He also solicited funds through an online donation website.
Whitley's rhetoric turned threatening by Tuesday afternoon when his official "Honest Gabe" account posted to X that "the FEC and the national law enforcement" should "g•n them (WIBC radio employees) down like the pigs they are."
Report echoes concerns raised during long-running campaign finance debacle
Accusations that Whitley, who promoted himself as "Honest Gabe," had mismanaged, misrepresented or lied about financial contributions to his political campaigns have dogged the young, conservative crusader in recent years.
When the Courier & Press investigated Whitley's campaign finances last year, the newspaper found that in early 2022, he filed an annual report with the Indiana Division of Elections showing that he raised more than $15,000 for an exploratory committee, with some donors giving him hundreds – and in one case, thousands – of dollars at a time.
But several of the donors listed told the Courier & Press they had no memory of ever giving Whitley money. Some said they didn't even know who he was. In January 2023, Whitley denied any wrongdoing in a statement to the Courier & Press, but scrutiny followed him to Indianapolis.
Whitley unsuccessfully ran to be the GOP’s nominee for Indiana's 7th Congressional District, which incorporates all of Marion County, a decision that sent reporters and watchdogs scouring the records and documents Whitley and his campaign filed with the FEC.
FEC orders Whitley to provide campaign finance records
In February, Gabrielle Kendall turned her sights on Whitley again, this time filing complaints to the Indiana Division of Elections and the FEC, as reported by the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The complaints accused Whitley’s “Honest Gabe for Congress” committee of accepting individual contributions greater than the $3,300 limit, among other claims, and featured some information that was previously included in the report Shabazz forwarded to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A report the committee filed with the FEC earlier this month claimed the organization had just more than $329,597 in cash on hand between the reporting period covering January through the end of March, which included a $100,000 “loan” Whitley listed as having made to himself, in addition to an earlier $20,000 loan.
That Whitley may have loaned money to himself or purported to have done so in FEC filings became the subject of a letter the agency addressed to Whitley and his Honest Gabe for Congress committee on July 4, public records show.
“This notice requests information essential to a full public disclosure of your federal election campaign finances,” the letter states, in part.
Senior Campaign Finance Analyst Denise Stilla went on to write in the letter that the agency seeks to “clarify whether or not the candidate used personal funds or borrowed the money from a lending institution or some other source.”
“Failure to adequately respond by the response date noted above could result in an audit or enforcement action,” the letter states.