UPDATE: Migrants file explosive class action lawsuit against DeSantis
Popular Information is a three-person newsletter, but we can rattle the cages of the most powerful politicians in the nation. This week, the DeSantis campaign is attacking our factual reporting: You can support this work by becoming a paid subscriber. The truth is only a very small percentage of Popular Information's 195,000 readers are paid subscribers. I've taken down the paywall because I don't believe our reporting should be limited to people with disposable income. But if a few more people choose to become paid subscribers, Popular Information could expose more lies and root out more corruption. So, if you can afford it, please chip in today. On Monday night, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) appeared on Fox News and defended his scheme to fly migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard. DeSantis said that the migrants' decision to participate in the trip was "voluntarily" and called any suggestion of impropriety "nonsense." Is DeSantis telling the truth? That will now be determined in federal court. On Tuesday, three of the migrants filed a class action lawsuit against DeSantis "in his official and personal capacity." The lawsuit also targets Jared Perdue, Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation, and several yet-to-be-identified defendants who were in direct contact with the migrants. The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his accomplices "executed a premeditated, fraudulent, and illegal scheme centered on exploiting [the migrants] for the sole purpose of advancing their own personal, financial, and political interests." The lawsuit also contains explosive new allegations about the lengths that DeSantis and other defendants went to manipulate and deceive the migrants. In his interview with Hannity, DeSantis said that the migrants "all signed consent forms to go." But the lawsuit alleges that migrants suffering from food insecurity were pressured "to sign a document in order to receive a $10 McDonald’s gift card." One migrant, identified in the lawsuit as Jesus Doe, was not told "what the document stated, and it was not completely translated to Spanish." He was "not given time to read or review the document," which included a liability waiver. Nevertheless, Jesus Doe "was directed to write his name, date of birth and signature on the document before he would receive the gift card." In response to the lawsuit, DeSantis released a copy of one “consent form.” As the lawsuit alleged, significant portions were not translated into Spanish. In a statement, DeSantis described the migrants who signed the forms as “homeless” and “hungry.” Another migrant, identified as Pablo Doe, was told that after taking the flight, he would receive "monetary assistance; housing; immediate employment; food assistance; clothing; free English classes; and legal assistance with…continuing immigration proceedings." The lawsuit alleges that another participant in the scheme gave Pablo Doe her phone number and communicated with him in the days before the flights left Texas. But once Pablo Doe arrived in Martha's Vineyard, and nothing he was promised materialized, "she no longer responded to calls or messages to the number she had given them in Texas." The lawsuit also specifically cites the phony brochures first reported by Popular Information on Monday:
The lawsuit states twelve causes of action against DeSantis and his co-defendants including violation of the Fourth Amendment (false arrest), violation of the Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection), civil rights conspiracy, false imprisonment, fraud, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and an injunction preventing DeSantis from continuing the scheme with more migrants. |
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UPDATE: DeSantis defends phony brochure; sheriff launches criminal investigation
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
On Monday morning, Popular Information broke the news that migrants from Venezuela were provided with false information to convince them to board flights chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
The smoking gun in Martha's Vineyard
Monday, September 19, 2022
Popular Information has obtained documentary evidence that migrants from Venezuela were provided with false information to convince them to board flights chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R).
Donut break journalism
Thursday, September 15, 2022
This week, Roll Call, a popular DC-based publication that covers Congress, aggressively promoted an event to its 364000 Twitter followers. The outlet was giving away donuts on Wednesday from a food
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In May, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) clearly stated that he believed Roe v. Wade should be overturned and the abortion issue should be returned to the states. In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe
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