Bleeding Heartland Profile picture
Sep 16, 2020 29 tweets 20 min read Read on X
Thread on attempts to influence #media coverage or intimidate journalists by using non-state actors w/close ties to government officials.
We will begin with a review of @ddkochel's furious attempts to throw #Iowa reporters off the scent of a big political story in July 2019. 1/
.@IAGovernor forced out #Iowa DHS Director Jerry Foxhoven in June 2019, giving no explanation for her decision. He kept quiet for weeks, then began hinting at reasons for his ouster. Naturally, political reporters closely followed the story. Background: 2/ bleedingheartland.com/2019/07/25/why…
In text to @AP's @DavePitt, Foxhoven said, "I can confirm that I was concerned about the legality of using DHS funds to pay the salaries of the governor’s staff" kcci.com/article/former…
@ddkochel soon swung into action. 3/
Although @ddkochel has no formal role with @IAGovernor's office, he has been a top political strategist for the governor and a mentor to her chief of staff @saraecraig.
Kochel went on a Twitter tear on July 24, 2019, insisting there was nothing to Foxhoven's claims. 4/
First, @ddkochel misrepresented what Foxhoven was saying, as if he had claimed salary-sharing agreements were illegal.
No one was saying that. Foxhoven was worried about using Medicaid funds to cover salary of @IAGovernor staffer no longer doing much little work for DHS. 5/
I linked to many of Kochel's tweets in this post. bleedingheartland.com/2019/07/25/why…
Here are some examples. He called Foxhoven's story a "total fabrication." 6/
Kochel wrongly claimed that Foxhoven had said all salary-sharing agreements were illegal, then said I and others had been "duped by a disgruntled director" 7/
Kochel tried to discourage some young reporters from taking this story seriously, telling @sgrubermiller that Foxhoven was "on his fourth or fifth version of this" and "flat out of credibility."
In fact Foxhoven had not changed his story. He had simply filled in some details. 8/
Kochel also tried to pit experienced reporters @davepitt and @tonyleys against each other as both reported new developments in the Foxhoven story.
Central to his narrative was the claim that the former DHS director never raised concerns w/ @IAGovernor's staff. 9/
As I and others pondered why Foxhoven worried about signing a new salary-sharing agreement, bleedingheartland.com/2019/07/25/why…
@ddkochel insisted that Foxhoven was lying and I "fell for it hook, line and sinker." 10/
Kochel insisted that the salary-sharing agreement Foxhoven didn't want to sign in 2019 was "exactly" like ones he had signed before. He derided Foxhoven's "farcical narrative" and my supposedly "ridiculous framing." 11/
As these events were unfolding, @IAGovernor's office denied parts of Foxhoven's story but mostly let @ddkochel do the heavy lifting on twitter.
Governor's communications director @PatJGarrett tweeted approvingly about Kochel's tirade. 12/
A little more than a week after all of this, Jerry Foxhoven revealed many more details about events preceding his ouster. bleedingheartland.com/2019/08/02/que…
In late August 2019 he told same story under penalty of perjury by filing a wrongful termination claim.
bleedingheartland.com/2019/08/31/rea…
13/
Not likely that an experienced attorney like Foxhoven would perjure himself by making up this whole story. And of course, he'd never claimed all salary-sharing agreements were illegal. Just that it might be improper for DHS to keep paying this particular @IAGovernor staffer. 14/
Moving into the present: on Sunday I broke the news that @IAGovernor had approved using federal #COVID19 relief funds to pay part of salary/benefits for 21 of her staffers from mid-March through June.
Expenditures hadn't been disclosed anywhere. 15/ bleedingheartland.com/2020/09/13/exc…
Before publishing I sought comment from @IAGovernor's communications director @PatJGarrett four times over a 2-week period. No reply, not even "no comment."
My post looked closely at federal guidance on CARES Act funds & considered whether this was a lawful use. 16/
I still haven't received any comment from @IAGovernor's office on this story. However hours after I published, @ddkochel declared my investigative work to be "yellow journalism out of the partisan noise machine" and a "shameful partisan attack." 17/
This was a transparent bid by @ddkochel to discourage other Iowa reporters from looking into @IAGovernor's previously undisclosed use of CARES Act funds. In effect, he was warning that anyone who pursued this story would be furthering "yellow journalism" and partisan attacks. 18/
Today a relatively new sock puppet account, @jlynnmugs, attacked my reporting in ways reminiscent of @ddkochel's attacks on Foxhoven.
I don't know who @jlynnmugs is but he seems to have some (perhaps informal) connection to @IAGovernor's office. He emulates Kochel's style. 19/
While not claiming to speak directly for @IAGovernor's office, @jlynnmugs waged a spirited defense of Reynolds actions. He cited a document I had quoted from and published in full in my original post, claiming I had misled readers about it. 20/
.@jlynnmugs used name-calling and ridicule, accusing me of lying and absolving @IAGovernor's spokesperson of any responsibility to answer Qs/explain governor's decision.
He wrongly claimed the federal guidance disproved my reporting. There were many more examples. 21/
Tonight @jlynnmugs repeatedly shared news reports about CARES Act funds being used to cover public health workers' salaries in New York state.
Of course I'd never claimed #COVID19 relief funds can't be used for any staff salaries. 22/
Federal guidance said CARES Act funds can be used to cover payroll expenses if those were “necessary expenditures incurred due to” the pandemic AND "not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020." 23/ bleedingheartland.com/2020/09/13/exc…
Budget for FY2020 included a line item for @IAGovernor's office. I wrote, "No doubt the 21 employees in question spent time dealing with matters related to COVID-19. But all were already on staff and would have been paid for their full-time work with or without a pandemic." 24/
.@jlynnmugs is still trying to discredit me, suggesting (wrongly) that I am "changing my story" and should "publicly apologize."
None of this is really directed at me. This is a message to other #Iowa #media that they shouldn't take my reporting seriously. 25/
.@jlynnmugs is still tweeting out facts about New York state. These all look like actual "necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency."
Can we say the same about work of the governor's chief of staff, public relations manager, comms director? 26/
Federal guidance says, "though the Fund was not intended to be used to cover government payroll expenses generally, the Fund was intended to provide assistance to address increased expenses, such as the expense of hiring new personnel"
@IAGovernor didn't hire new personnel. 27/
Federal guidance talks about redeploying staff to "substantially different" tasks not part of their regular duties. I question whether that applies to all of the 21 @IAGovernor staffers whose salaries were partly covered by CARES Act funds (again, w/no public disclosure). 28/
Getting back to point of this thread: @IAGovernor's office is silent while an outside ally misrepresents my writing and calls me a liar. I don't know why a sock puppet is doing this instead of @ddkochel, but I stand by my reporting, just like Foxhoven stood by his story. 29/29

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More from @LauraRBelin

Jun 28
Breaking: Abortion soon to become inaccessible in Iowa as divided Iowa Supreme Court allows state to enforce near-total ban.
Read the 4-3 opinion and dissents:
iowacourts.gov/courtcases/206…
Majority opinion by Justice Matthew McDermott reverses temporary injunction on near-total abortion ban, remands to Polk County District Court with instructions to apply rational basis review.
Joined by Justices McDonald, Oxley, and May:
iowacourts.gov/courtcases/206…
The two dissenting opinions are by Chief Justice Susan Christensen and Justice Edward Mansfield:

Mansfield wrote the 2022 opinion overturning Iowa's abortion rights precedent; Christensen dissented from that 2022 opinion: iowacourts.gov/courtcases/206…
bleedingheartland.com/2022/06/20/iow…
Read 20 tweets
Apr 11
Thread: I'm at the Iowa Supreme Court building, where justices will soon hear oral arguments related to Iowa's near-total abortion ban (now blocked by Polk County District Court order). Arguments set to begin at 1:30 pm Central. I will be live tweeting. 1/
Some background reading: here's the District Court's temporary injunction from last July, soon after #ialegis approved new ban.
The state is appealing that decision, asking Iowa Supreme Court to allow near-total abortion ban to be enforced. 2/bleedingheartland.com/static/media/2…
More background reading State's initial brief appealing injunction:

Final brief from Planned Parenthood and Emma Goldman Clinic, which are challenging the abortion ban:
State's final reply brief: 3/bleedingheartland.com/static/media/2…
bleedingheartland.com/static/media/2…
bleedingheartland.com/static/media/2…
Read 59 tweets
Apr 4
Iowa Senate Rs are trying again to give @IAGovernor more control over judicial appointments by removing judges from district nominating commissions and giving governor one more appointee to those bodies.
Senate has approved this before; House Rs have not acted. 1/ #ialegis
Senate Rs introduced their judicial branch appropriations bill today, and it includes language giving governor de facto control over the commissions that send her District Court nominees.

#ialegis 2/legis.iowa.gov/legislation/Bi…
As I mentioned, Senate GOP has tried to change composition of district judicial nominating commissions before. Last year's bill stalled in House Judiciary Committee. 3/ bleedingheartland.com/2023/02/09/iow…
Read 7 tweets
Apr 3
Iowa House is debating governor's proposal to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months, but keep it "budget neutral" by cutting thousands of women and babies off from Medicaid coverage.
Floor manager, State Rep Devon Wood, delivering closing remarks now. 1/
State Rep Devon Wood read partial list of organizations registered in favor of bill to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage.
What she didn't mention: at the House subcommittee on bill, many of those groups urged lawmakers NOT to reduce income threshold. 2/legis.iowa.gov/lobbyist/repor…
Earlier today, Iowa House Republicans rejected a Democratic amendment that would have extended postpartum Medicaid coverage without changing the current eligibility for pregnancy/postpartum coverage. 3/
Read 5 tweets
Jul 11, 2023
Iowa House gaveled in a couple of minutes ago. Republican State Rep Shannon Lundgren is floor managing the near-total abortion ban (she also did that for the 2018 bill). She denies bill would affect anyone having miscarriage, says "medical emergency" is "defined broadly".
@StaedArt State Rep @AustinBaeth speaking now. America is not a theocracy. Iowa is not a theocracy governed by narrow Christian views.
People with strong religious faith are on different sides of this issue.
Baeth notes different religious views on when life begins.
Choosing a heartbeat is "arbitrary." A beating heart is "necessary, but not sufficient" for life.
Every week he sees people in the ICU on ventilators.
Read 100 tweets
Jun 16, 2023
Breaking: Abortion remains LEGAL in Iowa as Iowa Supreme Court splits 3-3 on @IAGovernor's effort to reinstate 2018 abortion ban.
The split ruling leaves the lower court decision in effect under operation of law. So 2018 ban is still enjoined:
iowacourts.gov/courtcases/183…
That Polk County District Court decision rejected the state's effort to lift an injunction on 2018 law that would ban almost all abortions after about 6 weeks.
My post from last December: bleedingheartland.com/2022/12/12/cou…
Usually, when the Iowa Supreme Court splits 3-3, they don't write opinions. But this case is an exception. Justice Waterman wrote opinion joined by Chief Justice Christensen and Justice Mansfield. They would have affirmed lower court decision:
iowacourts.gov/courtcases/183…
Read 7 tweets

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