Community Corner
Whistleblower Jones Likely To Irk FL Governor DeSantis Again
This may not be a very good week for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
By Lucy Morgan
December 29, 2020
This may not be a very good week for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Find out what's happening in Across Floridafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Under fire on many fronts for his handling of the COVID-19 virus and his continuing efforts to support President Donald J. Trump, DeSantis has been particularly aggravated by questions raised by Rebekah Jones, a 31-year old computer tech at the Florida Department of Health.
The agency fired her after she filed a whistleblower complaint against the department. She says the action followed her unwillingness to falsify COVID statistics on a state “dashboard” she created for the department.
Find out what's happening in Across Floridafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Over the weekend, Forbes Magazine, one of the best known business publications in America, selected Jones, who created a highly praised COVID-19 data tracking system, as the Forbes “Technology Person of the Year.”
Forbes says Jones “is the latest technologist who stepped up to fill the vacuum left by governments during COVID-19.”
The Florida Phoenix recently wrote a column about Jones, who has accused the governor and state health officials of trying to cover up the actual number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus.
Jones recently filed suit against the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after officers raided her Tallahassee home and seized all of her computer equipment and a cell phone in an attempt to prove she sent a message that was posted on a Health Department web site.
Jones denies posting the item, and notes that the website was open to anyone and has a widely published password.
Meanwhile, Fred Piccolo Jr., the governor’s communications director, made a bit of news over the weekend when he took down his Twitter account after questions were raised about a tweet that criticized reporters for focusing on COVID-19 deaths instead of the many patients who actually recover.
“Shining light on hundreds of thousands of dead Americans is just trying to create a narrative that is not reality,” Piccolo tweeted. He was responding to a Reuters photo gallery on the fight against the virus in hospitals and funeral homes.
This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.
