BREAKING:FL Gov DeSantis, seeking to hide Covid infections & deaths, pressures Miami Herald law firm

[Celerity]

to squelch records suit

Link to tweet

Herald drafted a suit seeking ALF records. DeSantis aide pressured law firm not to file it

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article241942211.html

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ general counsel called a representative of the Miami Herald’s law firm seeking to quash a public records lawsuit that would force the state to divulge the names of all elder-care facilities that have had a positive test for the coronavirus. The back-door pressure — through an attorney that had no involvement in the case — paid off.

The law firm, Holland & Knight, told Sanford Bohrer, a senior partner with decades of representing the Miami Herald, to stand down and abandon the lawsuit. The suit will still be filed, but by another law firm, said Miami Herald publisher and executive editor Aminda Marqués González.

“We are disappointed that the governor’s office would go so far as to apply pressure on our legal counsel to prevent the release of public records that are critical to the health and safety of Florida’s most vulnerable citizens,” Marques said. “We shouldn’t have had to resort to legal action in the first place. Anyone with a relative in an elder care facility has a right to know if their loved ones are at risk so they can make an informed decision about their care.” The lawsuit did not seek the names of residents or staffers who tested positive.

For people with parents and grandparents in group homes, the frustration of not knowing which facilities are affected has been compounded by a ban on visitation put in place early in the coronavirus pandemic. The state has yet to provide a legal justification for its refusal to provide records. Under Florida’s public records law, records are considered public unless the custodian can provide a legal basis for withholding them.

snip

[procon]

1. This is how the Republicans are plotting to hide

Corona deaths to cover up their bad decisions and lackluster response in containing the virus early on. Look for all the red states to fog the body counts make themselves look good in comparison to Dem held states that are open about counting the death rates.

Trump is already trying to hide the numbers to make himself look like his (terrible) decisions have proved (un)effective.

[TheBlackAdder]

38. That's why Florida and Texas seem to be underreporting the amount of deaths verses infections.

.


Florida -- 19,895 infected w/ 461 deaths

Texas -- 13,780 infected with 286 deaths.


Heck, even Georgia is only reporting 12,550 infected and has 440 deaths.


https://infection2020.com/

.

[rzemanfl]

2. Fuckers. n/t

[KT2000]

3. Good for the other law firm

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Important to have info like this NOW so records can be preserved & to prevent or find coverups. . nt

[captain queeg]

5. How stupid are the rethugs? They won't be able to keep hiding this

When the bodies start piling up.

[SergeStorms]

6. I've been reading the local obits....

here in a very red part of New York State (something I've never done in my life) and I've been surprised at how many "died from pneumonia/died from complications of pneumonia" reasons for death I've come across. Yes, we're just coming out of winter into early spring here, but a lot of these people are in their late 50s, early 60s. That seemed very unusual to me. I'm wondering how many deaths from COVID-19 aren't being recorded nationwide, both from red and blue states/areas?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. THey can be cautious hiding Presumed cause, but the VOLUME of obits is harder to cover up. . . nt

[dem4decades]

14. China said it was pneumonia, Republicans are no better than those liars.

[BigmanPigman]

16. I remember that happened a lot with AIDS.

My cousin died of "skin cancer" since his parents were still in denial about his sexuality. Many people died of illnesses that were due to AIDS but the real numbers may never be known.

[mitch96]

29. Karposi sarcoma was another big one.. "died of cancer"......... nt

[BigmanPigman]

30. That's what he had, and another friend.

[mitch96]

28. From what I've read pneumonia is the most prevelant way covid kills

Look at the past years of how many died from pneumonia and see how many are dying NOW from pneumonia...
m

[Bernardo de La Paz]

7. Who owns deadly facilities? That's what they are truly hiding. Follow the MONEY. . . nt

[The Magistrate]

27. Give The Gentleman A Big Cigar!

You have nailed it, Sir, and I would venture to add that proprietors of such death traps are substantial donors to the governor's political campaigns....

[Cha]

8. Yeah DeSantis is predictably one big Disappointment.

[Major Nikon]

10. Banana Republicans

[oasis]

11. DeSantis is a criminal. A very stupid one. nt

[MoonlitKnight]

12. DeSatan trying to cover up everything

This, poor testing, unemployment debacle, nobody getting payments still, total mismanagement and corruption.

[Tribetime]

13. Rot in hell gov ....and during Easter

You sold your soul

[Crunchy Frog]

15. That's what happens when you elect a sociopathic Republican.

Even R voters have loved ones in nursing homes.

[Sewa]

17. When will someone start a recall petition

to remove this dumbass? If it’s possible to do it in Florida.

[Thomas Hurt]

18. so much for zealously representing your client.

[TeamPooka]

19. Fuck Holland & Knight and now let's watchdog them for any FL gov contracts and work they

may have been promised by DeSantis
Fuck them twice.
Clients will know they can't be trusted
Talk about a violation of fiduciary duty and trust.
The moment the Gov called them they should have refused to talk.

[iluvtennis]

20. DeSantis is an asswipe. Karma won't be good for him. nt

[samplegirl]

21. This guy needs

to be removed from office!

[SWBTATTReg]

22. Sadly, it'll come to a point where they will run out of rooms in the cemetery, and then ...

what will they do? Can't hide the massive number of burials, etc. from the public eye. The cover up will be caught in quite a few different ways, e.g., analysis of the obits, coffin shortage, crematories running nonstop, nursing homes reporting more empty slots available (someone should do a running tally, of like the top 50 or 100 nursing homes), number of estates (probate, etc. being filed in court), perhaps beauticians preparing those for final burial, number of jobs they had during a period of time, etc.). I'll bet that there are some reporters on top of this ...

Would be a story of the year, unfortunately (the cover up).

[Yavin4]

23. Holland & Knight need to be sanctioned by the state's bar association.

The paper should sue the firm for malpractice. That firm was hired to represent the paper.

[Celerity]

24. +1

Unfortunately they are one of the most powerful law firms in the US, and massively connected in Washington DC.

[MFGsunny]

32. This!

Yep, with 1300 lawyers and 28 locations

https://www.hklaw.com/en/offices

[Celerity]

33. and I read that 3 of the last 5 years they were named the DC law firm of the year

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_%26_Knight

Holland & Knight has been named the Law Firm of the Year in the Washington, D.C., area by the Greater Washington Commercial Association of Realtors three times in the past five years.

Former Congressman Gerry Sikorski, Richard Gold, and Kathryn Hazeem Lehman were recognized by The Hill as Washington, D.C.'s Top Lobbyists.

[William769]

25. This past week our numbers here in Florida slowed down a lot on reporting.

[duforsure]

26. Florida seniors

Who will be hurt the most from trump and this idiot are getting woke from his failures that could kill them now, and realize trump and him don't give a dam about their health, and why they want to hide their numbers, it exposes all their lies.

[Windy City Charlie]

31. Somehow has to be used for ulterior motives

My guess is Florida is purposely under-reporting their numbers, so Trump and the Republicans can try and claim the other states are over-reporting theirs.

[Maine-i-acs]

34. That's Scary Mary Mayhew with him in the photo (in glasses)

She ran HHS in Maine under Gov. LePage (R)
-she 'reformed' Medicaid by making it harder to be eligible (thus 'cutting the welfare rolls')
-she insisted that any immigrants and refugees requesting state aid needed a photo ID first (though this is illegal)
-under her tenure Maine's infant mortality rate lurched higher
-and Maine's health ranking went from 6th in the country to 23rd.

Then she went to Trump's HHS to do the same nationally. Somehow this didn't pan out and she left after two months.

Now she's in Florida helping to cover up COVID deaths.

She is a symptom of a greater disease nationally, all these people need to be swept from power, not just the corrupt leaders like deSantis but all their henchmen and cronies like Mayhew.

[Celerity]

35. did she dye her hair?

If so, it looks like she is going for an Aunt Lydia colour

[I_UndergroundPanther]

37. I agree, and once food gets scarce

Those fuckers will be up to thier eyeballs in hot boiling water and no way out of the pot.

[Stuart G]

36. K and R