UPDATED at 6 p.m.
Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo spoke for the first time Monday during the federal civil trial where he stands accused of abusing his power and influence to harass two Little Havana entrepreneurs.
He took the stand to testify before jurors after almost a weeklong delay. His lawyers told U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith Carollo had suffered an asthma-related medical emergency last Tuesday when he was first scheduled to appear.
What jurors witnessed was a familiar sight to anyone who has seen Carollo at city meetings: the commissioner launching into lengthy narratives, alleging coordinated attacks from others. The judge had to instruct him multiple times to answer questions with a "yes" or "no."
The plaintiffs' lawyers grilled Carollo over previous testimony from those who had worked for him that the commissioner allegedly disliked a mural on one of plaintiff William Fuller's Little Havana properties because it had "too many Black people on it."
Carollo testified that he found those allegations to be "sickening," and part of a "coordinated" attack by plaintiffs Fuller and Martin Pinilla.
"I have no problem with this mural of Afro-Cubans," he rebutted, adding that he would stake his record that no other politician has done as much for the Black community as he has.
The plaintiffs’ legal team spent much of the morning attempting to prove that Carollo's alleged actions against Fuller and Pinilla arose out of retaliation for their support of his 2017 political opponent, Alfonso Leon. They said Carollo used the city’s code enforcement office, police, and the fire department to harass their businesses. They are seeking $2.5 million in damages to their businesses.
READ MORE: Federal civil trial opens for Joe Carollo, accused of 'harassment'
Carollo testified that shortly after he was elected in November of 2017, he went to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to report Fuller for alleged voter fraud. He said he believed Fuller improperly voted in Miami's District 3.
Attorneys then showed jurors an email to Carollo from his former aide, Steven Miro, that showed a list of properties belonging to Fuller, his parents, and his sister.
Carollo said that he did not direct Miro to send the email; that someone else in his camp did so because of a lawsuit brought against Carollo by Leon, alleging that Carollo lived outside of District 3.
During questioning, Carollo acknowledged that any kind of retaliation by an elected official against a resident because of their voting history was wrong.
Carollo's attorneys have repeatedly argued that their client was simply doing his job as commissioner by reporting Fuller and Pinilla's alleged wrongdoings, and did not target them.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers relayed an interview Carollo had on Spanish-language radio after he was elected, in which he disparaged one of Fuller and Pinilla's tenants, Maria Waleska, accusing her of being connected to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's government.
In his testimony, Carollo claimed to know that Waleska's stepfather worked with Fidel Castro, even saying that he died in the same Cuban hospital as Hugo Chavez, the former leader of Venezuela.
The cross-examination became so heated before a noon break that the judge had to intervene and reprimand both Carollo and the plaintiffs' attorney Jeffrey Gutchess.
In the plaintiffs’ direct examination, Attorney Jeffrey Gutchess asked Carollo to define aspects of intimidation of city employees, before having the commissioner explain why his office sent numerous public records requests to code enforcement for information on the plaintiffs’ properties, and how employees must have felt when Carollo questioned them publicly at a city commission meeting and tried to hire a prosecutor to investigate city employees.
Throughout the questioning, Carollo defended himself by arguing that Fuller and Pinilla, and their tenants, were doing things improperly and violating city code. He said that any records requests he pulled were done in his own defense against accusations of impropriety by the plaintiffs and his political opponents.
One of the most heated exchanges during the testimony came when Carollo accused Gutchess of lying to jurors and crafting a false narrative about the commissioner.
“I have not lied to the jury and you will not accuse me of that!” Gutchess responded to Carollo with a raised voice before the judge intervened and instructed Carollo not to make any comments about the attorneys.
Carollo accused at least nine witnesses of perjuring themselves during their sworn testimony, saying that many of the things that were said about him so far in the trial have been false.
Gutchess is expected to continue his questioning of Carollo on Tuesday.
