Are Gov. DeSantis, OIG Miguel, and Flack Fenske lying about the state DoE/Jefferson investigation?

I might be able to answer that if DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw would stop tweeting about Nazis and pedophiles to own the libs and do the job I pay her to do.

Yesterday, I asked both Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office and the U.S. Department of Education to update the status of the state and federal investigations into the DoE/Jefferson bid-rigging and ESSER money scandal.

How they responded may suggest something about the relative seriousness of the investigations. Let’s compare them.

US DoE: Yes, we have the Congressional letter. Stay tuned.

Here was my question for the US DoE:

Hello, my name is Billy Townsend, a freelance education writer and reporter. Last week, several Florida Congress members formally requested that IG Sandra Bruce investigate the state of Florida's proposed misuse of ESSER funds in the Jefferson County charter scandal -- and as much of the wider scandal as necessary.

Can you tell me if IG Bruce is, in fact, investigating the Jefferson County issue? Have interviews been scheduled? And is there a timeline for results? 

The US DoE press office responded promptly and professionally within a few hours:

Hi and thank you for contacting the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) press office. The Department has directed your inquiry to the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for response. Please know that all the OIG can do at this time is confirm that we have received the letter. What we can do, however, is keep your contact information handy and if there is additional information that we can share, we can be sure to do so. Also, I’m happy to add you to our media distribution list, so you can receive copies of our reports and work – just let me know. Thank you!

The speed with which US DoE confirmed receipt of the letter suggests to me, “Yep, these allegations have the IG’s attention. We’re looking into them. We can’t tell you anything about them yet. But you should get on our mailing list.”

But that’s just my interpretation.

DeSantis promised OIG Melinda Miguel will perform an “all of the above” DoE/Jefferson investigation. Where is it?

The process is … well … a little different in dealing with the mean girl table at the middle school cafeteria that speaks for Ron DeSantis.

First, a little background:

Last week, reporters Lawrence Mower and Ana Ceballos of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times shared bureau reported that DeSantis’ Inspector General Melinda Miguel plans to investigate the entirety of the DoE/Jefferson scandal.

In confirming the investigation, one of the spokeswomen, Taryn Fenske, reversed an earlier statement from a different spokeswoman, Christina Pushaw, captured here in an earlier article from Mower and Ceballos.

DeSantis’ office, however, said Thursday [Jan. 13] that it considers the matter closed because the Department of Education’s inspector general office investigated and took action against a bid, unrelated to the one exposed by the Times/Herald.

“The investigation has concluded, and the commissioner and DOE have been fully transparent about the investigation, its findings and the actions taken by the agency,” spokesperson Christina Pushaw said in an email. “Rep. Tant’s letter is a few weeks late.”

DeSantis and Fenske contradicted Pushaw a few days later, which was also captured in Mower/Ceballos reporting on Jan. 24. Note the parts in bold.

In a reversal from the office’s previous statement, DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske confirmed Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel is reviewing how the Department of Education and its inspector general handled the bid for a multimillion-dollar contract.

“She is doing her due diligence on all of the above,” said Fenske, the governor’s communications director.

Evidence shows the department tried to steer the contract to a politically connected vendor, but its inspector general did not investigate the matter.

The review, described by Fenske as a “holistic approach” to the issue, follows a request made by state Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee. Tant cited “irregularities” with the department’s procurement process following reporting by the Times/Herald.

If this investigation is truly “holistic,” it will include long, under oath interviews with major DoE/Jefferson players: Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, DoE Chancellor Jacob Oliva, MGT owner Trey Traviesa, Florida Charter School Alliance muscle Ralph Arza, etc.

Did DeSantis and Miguel and Fenske lie about the state investigation?

A week later, I have neither seen nor heard any indication that OIG Melinda Miguel is investigating anything. I hear no rumblings from Jefferson County of any interviews with key witnesses to the bid-rigging and the Nov. 1 Ralph Arza/DoE/MGT meeting at DoE.

So I decided to inquire. First, I reached out by phone to Miguel’s office and spoke to a young man there. He referred me to the governor’s office, to the dynamic press office duo of Christina Pushaw and Taryn Fenske.

I called, got a voicemail recording, and left a message. Then I left an email:

Hi there. Billy Townsend here.

I want to try to confirm the scope and timing of Melinda Miguel's "holistic" investigation into DoE/Jefferson announced last week. Can anyone tell me when Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran and Chancellor Jacob Oliva will be interviewed in the MGT bid-rigging scandal? Can you give a general view of the timeline and scope of the investigation?

Also, I wanted to see if Gov. DeSantis is aware that Sen. Manny Diaz is blaming the people of Jefferson County for the abject failure of Somerset Charter. Full documentation linked below. I would like to know if Gov. DeSantis shares that point of view with Diaz. If not, does the governor support the audit that the Jefferson superintendent is requesting for how Somerset spent the $20M in School of Hope money? I'll follow up by phone later in the day. Thank you.

Crickets.

DeSantis spokeswomen too busy dropping sick burns, like — stop talking about those demonstrating Nazis my boss is weirdly unable to condemn, haters. Because … pedophiles?

Why the official silence on DoE/Jefferson?

Maybe Pushaw and Fenske couldn’t answer me because they were too busy spending your state tax money on a barrage of bizarre tweets made necessary because DeSantis won’t say: “Nazis are bad. And it’s bad that Nazis get together near Orlando to demonstrate and menace normal people.”

Rather than just do that, like a normal person, we get this tax-funded Twitter shit show:

I’m not sure why that makes Taryn Fenske a good boss; but to each their own.

I’d think more of her as a boss if she did her tax-payer funded job and answer my questions.