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Investigation: No indication Florida told Rebekah Jones to falsify COVID data

The former department employee received national attention when claimed to have been fired for exposing problems with the state's COVID-19 dashboard.
Credit: WSVN/NNS
Rebekah Jones, the former Florida Department of Health employee accused of sending out a mass text message on a state alert system, walks out of jail.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — There's nothing to indicate the Florida Department of Health told an employee to falsify COVID-19 data and she wasn't fired out of retaliation, according to a state investigator's report released this month.

Former department employee Rebekah Jones received national attention when she raised questions about the state's COVID-19 dashboard and claimed she was fired for exposing problems. The state said she was fired for insubordination after being reprimanded several times.

An inspector general's 268-page report found no evidence of wrongdoing or retaliation by the department.

Jones, a Democrat who is running for the U.S. House seat now held by Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, is also facing criminal charges after authorities said she illegally accessed the Department of Health's computer system to send a message to 1,750 people and downloaded confidential data and saved it to her devices.

RELATED: Judge refuses to dismiss criminal charges against Rebekah Jones

RELATED: Ex-Florida COVID-19 dashboard worker Rebekah Jones plans to run for Rep. Matt Gaetz’s House seat

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