GOP lawyer resigns over police raid on Florida data scientist’s home
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/09/florida-republican-resigns-raid/
A Republican lawyer resigned Tuesday from a Florida judicial panel in objection to police raiding the home of a data scientist. That scientist was previously ousted from the state health department in what she has characterized as retribution for objecting to unethical requests during the pandemic.
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Ron Filipkowski, who served on a nominating commission for the state’s 12th Circuit, wrote in a pointed resignation letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s general counsel that he considered the search warrant executed on Rebekah Jones’s home “unconscionable.” He also said it was indicative of the state’s “reckless and irresponsible” handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
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“It just seems like it’s not really about any kind of criminal investigation,” Filipkowski told The Washington Post. “It’s about intimidation of her and sending a message to people currently working in state government that, ‘This could be you.’ ”
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The state’s public-facing portal of pandemic data has been under scrutiny since earlier this year, when Jones, a former data scientist at the Florida Department of Health, was fired and began trading public accusations with the agency. She alleged that she was asked to undercount infections and overcount the number of people tested, while state officials said she had been repeatedly insubordinate.
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> Jones launched her own data portal in June, advertising it as an independent alternative to the state dashboard. State police seized her computer, phone and other hardware during the raid Monday, in what she says is an attempt to silence her work.
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An affidavit attached to the search warrant alleges that Jones gained unauthorized access last month to a health department communication platform and sent a message to about 1,750 people, urging them to speak out against the department’s pandemic response.
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Jones has denied the accusation and has not been criminally charged. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the state attorney for the region encompassing Leon County did not respond to a question about whether she was likely to face charges.Some shenanigans there.
