Fabian Basabe is on civil trial in Tallahassee this week as former aides and a former intern accuse the Miami Beach Republican of sexual harassment and defamation. The case is playing out in a downtown courtroom across from the Capitol, with Basabe denying the claims and representing himself.
The plaintiffs say the conduct went well beyond crude talk. Nicolas Frevola, Janette Frevola and Jacob Cutbirth allege that Basabe grilled them about their sex lives, used graphic language to push them toward sex with men, showed them an image of a naked man on his phone and put his hands on staffers without consent. They also say he slapped a legislative aide on the butt during an elementary school career day in 2022 and tried to kiss a Florida State University student before bringing him on as a legislative intern a month later.
Basabe’s decision to act as his own lawyer has become part of the spectacle. On Monday, his questions ranged from the decor inside his 1920s-era midtown Miami residence to the duties of household staff and to the image of a scantily clad man that appeared as the background on his phone. Judge J. Lee Marsh had already warned him repeatedly about courtroom rules, and by the time of the trial those violations had drawn the judge’s description of them as “staggering.”
That has turned a civil dispute into a rare public airing of allegations about behavior inside the Capitol world, with a sitting lawmaker under oath while still in office. Katherine Viker, the attorney for the plaintiffs, told the court, “We are shocked that this man who can’t represent himself has been elected by the people of Miami.” She added, “They might want to reconsider.”
Basabe, who has denied the allegations, remains a Republican state representative from Miami Beach and is up for re-election this fall. He is also a familiar public figure beyond politics, having once appeared on “Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive,” the show that featured Kourtney Kardashian, George Foreman III and other children of wealthy parents working on a ranch in Colorado. What the court decides next will determine whether those accusations end in liability, and whether the lawmaker can carry a trial burden into an election year without a ruling that follows him out of the courtroom.
