The Florida Department of Health’s Office of Inspector General found “insufficient” or no evidence that data scientist Rebekah Jones was told to manipulate or misrepresent pandemic numbers, NBC reported.
Jones, who ran Florida’s COVID-19 data dashboard, received national attention after accusing superiors of fudging data to bolster DeSantis’ case to ease restrictions.
Florida officials denied her charges from the outset.
Jones, who is currently a Democratic candidate for Congress running against incumbent Republican Matt Gaetz, was fired one month after making them. She still plans to sue the state for wrongful dismissal, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“I don’t think it was ever realistic for them to come out and be like, ‘yeah, everything she said is true, we’re sorry, my bad,’” she told the paper.
Her critics have pointed to past legal incidents in attacking her credibility.
Jones was hit with a cyberstalking charge stemming from a relationship she had with a Florida State student while teaching at the school.
A DeSantis spokesperson, Taryn Fenske, has characterized her as a “discredited conspiracy theorist.”
Florida cops raided her home in December 2020 on suspicion that she sent an anonymous message to her former co-workers at the health department urging them to speak out against DeSantis and the handling of COVID data. No charges have been filed yet in that case.
This is an excerpt from New York Post.
