Ex-Florida employee Rebekah Jones accused of 'disinformation campaign' by former Democrat official
Former Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz says he befriended Rebekah Jones to keep her from spreading fake news.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A fired Florida Department of Health employee and critic of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ coronavirus response was slammed by a former Democratic official who accused her of "running a disinformation campaign" as she alleged the state was minimizing its caseload.
Jared Moskowitz is a former state lawmaker who recently stepped down from his role as head of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, which he ran through the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
He told Politico in an interview published Friday that he suspected someone in his office was leaking information to Rebekah Jones, a former health department geographer who was fired last year, claiming she was resisting efforts to doctor COVID-19 data as it appeared on the geographic information system dashboard on the state’s coronavirus website.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FORMER FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH EMPLOYEE REBEKAH JONES RECEIVES WHISTLEBLOWER STATUS
Jones had become a media darling and grew a large Twitter following after her allegations went public. Then she sent a tweet in July 2020 that claimed Moskowitz’s agency was covering up a coronavirus outbreak among its staff.
Rebekah Jones in her office at the Florida Department of Health. Jones has been granted whistleblower status in her ongoing battle over COVID-19 data in Florida. (Courtesy Rebekah Jones/TNS/ABACAPRESS.COM) (Reuters)
So Moskowitz said he adopted the philosophy of "keep your enemies close" – and reached out to befriend her.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"With a platform of 400,000 Twitter followers, her reputation for bullying people on social media and her running a disinformation campaign that the national media echoed, she was more dangerous as an enemy than a friend," Moskowitz told Politico.
Once acquainted, he said, he could try to rein in what he characterized as a "disinformation campaign" and discourage her from tweeting out any falsehoods about his department’s pandemic response.
He told Politico his strategy was like "keeping a fish on the hook" and that it worked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jones, at some point, leaked their private conversations to the Miami Herald, which published them Friday and reported the two formed "an unlikely alliance born from the shared passion for public service and emergency response."
When reached by phone Friday evening, Moskowitz didn’t have much of anything positive to say about Jones.
"The more we talk about her the more we breathe life into her and make her important," he told Fox News, adding that he’d said enough in the Politico and Miami Herald interviews.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Then-Division of Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz talks to the media alongside Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during press conference to announces COVID-19 antibody testing, mobile lab at Hard Rock Stadium as the novel coronavirus pandemic continues on Wednesday, May 6, 2020 in Miami Gardens, Fla. (David Santiago/Miami Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Getty Images)
"It became obvious early on that behind-the-scenes work would be necessary to dispel rumors, innuendos and neutralize conspiracy theories," he told the Herald.
Jones did not respond to a request for comment.
She gained national attention when she alleged she had evidence of an attempted cover-up of Florida’s coronavirus death toll following her firing from a position responsible for curating COVID-19 data for the state.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She claimed she had resisted demands from the DeSantis administration that she edit the state's coronavirus figures – and she went on to call Florida’s Deputy Secretary of Health Dr. Shamarial Roberson a "murderer" whom she claimed also wanted her to alter coronavirus-positivity data.
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Officials gave insubordination and a track record of receiving reprimands as the reason. The National Review later obtained and published those personnel files – which show a lengthy list of infractions and attempts by management to resolve her behavioral issues before she was ultimately let go.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She is facing felony cybercrime charges for allegedly hacking a state messaging service and has maintained her innocence. She received whistleblower status in late May.