Don’t Mess w/Soccer Moms
I talked yesterday with Lindsay Durtschi, a Pensacola mom who is suing the Escambia County School Board along with Penguin Random House, PEN America and others.
- “Whether it’s viewpoint censorship, which is what I believe is happening on our school board, or it is just a pure violation of our students’ First Amendment rights, none of it is legal,” Lindsay said. “None of it is based on any sort of freedom of speech, freedom of parental rights. It’s quite the opposite.”
Why it matters: Having two parents and their children involved in the lawsuit gives the group more standing in the lawsuit that asserts the school board has violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution by removing and restricting books.
Dig Deeper:
Who is Lindsay Durtschi? “I’m a parent. I am very involved in our community–in a Mardi Gras krew, involved in IMPACT 100 and a sustaining member of Junior League.”
- “I’ve chosen to put myself in this community because I’m not from here. I’ve lived here about eight years, but I am a Floridian. I’m from Jacksonville, Florida. I was raised in the public school system. My mother was an educator for 38 years. And I’m a proud product of the Duval County Public School system.”
“And one thing that was never on the docket when I was in school was banning a large portion of books based on viewpoint censorship.”
How did she get involved in the lawsuit: “I’ve been speaking up locally about the questionable nature of violating First Amendment rights of our students since probably for about eight months now, going to the school meetings and that kind of thing.
“PEN America got in touch with me about my comfortability in joining with authors and publishers and other parents on a lawsuit against the school board.
“I was in talks with them for quite some time and their attorneys, and I just believed in the work they were doing, and I thought this is the right time and the right place to do it.”
Note: More on the interview will be in Inweekly’s June 1 issue.
Project Homecoming Ends
Stephen Alford, the Okaloosa County developer that tried to extort $25 million from former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, lost an appeal challenge to his 63-month sentence.
Why it matters: The crime – “Project Homecoming” – happened while Congressman Matt Gaetz was being accused of paying a minor for sex after Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg was arrested for sex trafficking. Greenberg pleaded guilty, but the federal probe into Matt Gaetz went nowhere.
Dig Deeper:
The Daily Beast had FBI documents that reveal details of the FBI sting operation that led to Okaloosa County developer Stephen Alford pleading guilty to trying to extort $25 million from the father of Rep. Matt Gaetz to help free Bob Levinson, an American taken hostage in Iran, in exchange for a presidential pardon for the congressman.
The news site laid out how the federal agency was tipped off about the crime that Alford and an associate called “Project Homecoming.” The narrative that Rep. Gaetz told Tucker Carlson was that he had gone to the FBI for help, but the documents obtained by The Daily Beast tell a different story.
According to The Daily Beast, the FBI found out about the plot elsewhere and contacted the Gaetz family. A retired agent from Jacksonville tipped off a female FBI special agent to a lead. She followed that lead to another former FBI agent based in Miami who told her about Project Homecoming.
When the FBI got in touch with Matt Gaetz over the phone, he claimed his father, former Florida Senate President Don Gaetz, had met twice with two men to discuss their plan. According to Rep. Gaetz, Alford was brought in for the second meeting and promised to “make Congressman Gaetz’s criminal case go away.”
At the end of the phone call, Gaetz asked the FBI agent to call his father.
On March 25, 2021, Don Gaetz and his attorney met with two special agents in the FBI’s Fort Walton Beach office. Using a PowerPoint presentation, the FBI agents laid out how they wanted to sting the alleged perpetrators.
The next day, Papa Gaetz taped an in-person conversation with Alford’s lawyer and later recorded another conversation with Alford, during which the developer promised a presidential pardon for his son.
On March 30, Don Gaetz met a special agent at a Publix in Niceville to receive a recording device for a follow-up conversation with Alford the next day. Hours later, The New York Times disclosed the sex trafficking investigation into Congressman Gaetz.
That evening, two special agents rang the doorbell at the Gaetz family residence. They had come for their recording device. The sting was off, but the records don’t explain why, and they don’t mention the Times story. Shortly after the FBI visit, Rep. Gaetz was interviewed on television by Carlson.
Whose Idea?
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential announcement on Twitter was a disaster as the site crashed repeatedly.
“Glitchy. Tech issues. Uncomfortable silences. A complete failure to launch. And that’s just the candidate!” Steven Cheung, spokesman for former President Donald Trump’s campaign, told NBC News.
After about 20 minutes and Elon Musk opening a second app, DeSantis delivered his message:
“American decline is not inevitable — it is a choice. And we should choose a new direction — a path that will lead to American revitalization. I am running for president of the United States to lead our great American comeback.”
Anyone Remember? Belgian Cats
In 2015, as the hunt for terrorism suspects intensified in Brussels, the authorities requested that Belgians refrain from posting messages that might expose or interfere with police operations.
Twitter users responded with what became internationally recognized as the symbol of solidarity: cat photos.
Google it or just read NY Times article.
Note: The Belgian Cats have not claimed credit for DeSantis crashes…yet.
Dig Deeper: Read Florida Politics.
