The settlement agreement requires the Department to provide detailed COVID-19 data for the next 3 years, including vaccination counts, case counts, and deaths, aggregated weekly, by county, age group, gender, and race.
While the litigation was pending, the Department claimed in court that the records requested did not exist. But after the appellate court upheld the trial court’s order requiring the Department to produce a corporate representative for deposition, the records were produced in March 2023.
“The settlement agreement vindicates the position of Rep. Smith and FLCGA. The Department hid public records during the height of the pandemic to fit a political narrative that Florida was open for business,” said Michael Barfield, Director of Public Access Initiatives at FLCGA. “Transparency and accountability are not negotiable. The Constitution mandates it.”
… the Department claimed in court that the records requested did not exist.
… the records were produced in March 2023.
I normally don’t like using generalizing statements but I sure do hate all Republicans. So sick of their hate and greed fueled by lies and deception.
So either they did exist or they magically came into existence with real numbers and data I’m sure.
Produce Required COVID Files
3rd level Conjuration
Casting time: years apparently
Range: statewide
Components: V S M
Duration: as long as it takes for the information to be seen by proper authorities
Classes: Wizard, Warlock, Sorcerer
You touch a keyboard in a pattern, producing the required files for the CDC and other health agencies to get a gauge on how well your state did on protecting the health of your citizens
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell at level 4 spell slot or higher, the results are quicker and more thorough
Material component: A shred of respect for human life or a court mandate
Claims in court proved to be false? I’m sure the responsible party will face the same repercussion for purgery as the rest of us…
This was super obvious what desantis was doing even at the time. Do people remember the woman that put out the real numbers and she was harassed by the police? That was all desantis too.
But after the appellate court upheld the trial court’s order requiring the Department to produce a corporate representative for deposition, the records were produced in March 2023.
So they kept saying they didn’t have the records, when the court was finally like “Okay send someone over to be deposed for it”, all those records suddenly appeared. Why? Because sending someone over to officially be deposed for it, marks the person responsible for the testimony that is very difficult to escape. That level of deposition, you don’t get a “well I wasn’t aware that Bob over there was hiding documents” or any backsie outsie like that. That official person says “we don’t have the records” and suddenly someone finds the records, that official person’s ass is going to prison.
That’s why these documents suddenly appeared out of thin air, because the court was done with the department and was like, “Okay if you’re so adamant about your position, put someone’s freedom on the line.” And it’s not like a scapegoat can be picked, because that’s also very uncool and very illegal to do that for this kind of deposition and given enough time, had they chosen to go that route, many more would be finding themselves in prison.
That’s literally what it took. For the court to remove all the weaselly “Oh! THOSE documents?! Why didn’t you say so?” chances to get out of being found out. They literally had to be squeezed into a corner from which there was no escape to finally fess up. I’m not in Florida, never live there, never plan on living there, but if I was a Floridian I’d be calling for the Florida Assembly to out everyone involved, all the way to DeSantis.
It’s one thing if no one actually knew about the documents. But for suddenly all that recall to kick into full gear when the Court gets to this kind of position. No part of that looks legit. That’s like a bunch of fuckers thought they could snake their way through all the courts for long enough and suddenly when the shit hit fan and there was nowhere else to go they started screaming “HEY LET’S SETTLE!!”
But I doubt the average Florida voter will even lift a single finger about this. There will be some, but by and large, most of the Floridan voters won’t care that a Governor hid information about deaths and dangers of a virus. Hell even went after that Jones lady for trying to tell everyone that they were hiding the data with police raiding her home. Nope, most Floridian voters will allow this to sweep on by like a category one hurricane.
I don’t think future generations will ever understand how people kept yelling “justice” and this BS is the only kind of “justice” we ever got.
