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18 Mar, 12 tweets, 5 min read
NEW: Two wealthy political donors who run a private school company in Mississippi allegedly "conspired" to "fraudulently" obtain over $2 million from public education funds to pay teacher salaries at their private school in Jackson, prosecutors say. 1/
mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
Nancy New and Zachary New already face state charges for allegedly embezzling more than $4 million from the Department of Human Services involving TANF funds that were supposed to go to the state's neediest families. 2/
mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
The mom-son duo pleaded not guilty in federal court today on 17 federal charges. If convicted, they could each be sentenced to more than two centuries in federal prison.

They run multiple private schools for special needs children in the state. 3/ mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
The News have given thousands to top GOP leaders in Mississippi, including current Gov. Tate Reeves, and had a close working relationship with former Gov. Phil Bryant.

State Auditor @ShadWhite, a Republican, helped lead the initial investigation. 4/ mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
The News' schools are some of the top recipients of funds from the ESA voucher program that then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves helped create and former-Gov. Bryant signed into law.

The program shifts millions in funds from public schools to private schools. 5/ mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
Students at just six schools, including the three New Summit schools, accounted for 40% of all Mississippi students receiving ESA funds, a legislative review found in December 2020. 6/
mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
In 2019, when then-Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves was first running for governor, his Democratic opponent, then-Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, accused him of using the voucher program to reward donors like the News, who'd donated $6,000 to Reeves. 7/
mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
During the 2019 campaign, Gov. Reeves released an ad touting his support for public schools that used footage of himself meeting with educators on the New Summit School campus.

But Reeves condemned the News after last year's indictments. 8/ mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
Gov. Reeves in 2020: “I filmed an ad in a school that some of these people helped run. I can tell you, the teachers and students I met there didn’t deserve to be caught up in all this. ... I would consider them victims of these alleged actions as well.” 9/ mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
Auditor @ShadWhite: "I am proud of the joint work we have done with federal investigators that led to this indictment. We are continuing to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our federal partners to advance this case, and today is another step toward justice for the taxpayers." 10/
A reminder from the U.S. attorney's office: “The public is reminded that an indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law." 11/ mississippifreepress.org/10337/politica…
If you like the work we do at the Mississippi Free Press, please consider helping us continue to do more with a one-time or recurring donation to support non-profit journalism. And follow us @MSFreePress.
mfp.ms/donate

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman Profile picture
17 Mar
When I see #ImStillWithHer trending in 2021, I'm reminded that Hillary Rodham's name is going to outlive the 2016 electoral college victor's name in the history (and her husband's name, too). And that's appropriate.
Damn, misogyny is wild.
The fact that people act confused about why I say the first woman to win a party's nomination & the pop vote for POTUS (also a former first lady, senator and secretary of state) will have a lasting place in history is something.

Y'all think history is only for powerful men?
Read 7 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
17 Mar
Mississippi would MAKE MONEY by expanding Medicaid to 200k-300k working poor.

The US gov't would not only pay for it, but is offering to give MS a bonus $600 million under the stimulus.

But Gov. @TateReeves says no: “I am opposed to Obamacare expansion.”
mississippifreepress.org/10142/gov-reev…
Under the stimulus bill President Biden signed, Mississippi would get $600 million if we expanded Medicaid.

That's on top of more than $1 billion a year the US gov't would pay for it each year.

But Mississippi has rejected $8 billion since 2014.
mississippifreepress.org/10142/gov-reev…
House Speaker Philip Gunn also continues to oppose Medicaid expansion.

Only Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, the Republican Senate majority leader, is on the record supporting it.
Read 4 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
16 Mar
The ACA allowed me to stay on my parents' insurance til 26.

After, private insurance expected me to shell out $500 for insurance with high deductibles & high med costs ($200 for one).

My husband & I got on an ACA plan in 2018 for $70/month, $600 max deductibles, most meds free.
Our income rose in 2019 and 2020, though, so we now pay ~$170/month altogether for both of us on our ACA plan with dental.

Some meds are free, others are $10, $25.

One now costs $90 (the one that would've cost $200 under under private insurance when I had much less income).
Without the ACA, I doubt if I would've been able to even do the kind of work that enabled me to begin moving up the income ladder to begin with, though.

It treats my ADHD, a huge impediment otherwise. But it's also hard for people to do good work if 60% is going to health costs.
Read 6 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
15 Mar
THREAD; One of my favorite songs on Taylor Swift's "Folklore" album is "The Last Great American Dynasty."

On the surface, it's about the woman who once owned the house TS now owns.

It's also a commentary on how society blames women for men's failures. 1/
The lyrics:

🎶 Rebekah rode up on the afternoon train, it was sunny
Her saltbox house on the coast took her mind off St. Louis
Bill was the heir to the Standard Oil name, and money
And the town said 'How did a middle class divorcée do it?' 🎶

She must have ulterior motives!
🎶 The wedding was charming, if a little gauche
There's only so far new money goes
They picked out a home & called it "Holiday House"
Their parties were tasteful, if a little loud
The doctor had told him to settle down
It must've been her fault his heart gave out 🎶

Whose fault?
Read 15 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
15 Mar
If you liked @MickeyGuyton's "Black Like Me," listen to, "What Are You Gonna Tell Her?"

A sample of the lyrics:

🎶 She thinks life is fair and
God hears every prayer
And everyone gets their ever after 🎶 1/ #Grammys
🎶 She thinks love is love and if
You work hard, that's enough
Skin's just skin and it doesn't matter
And that her friend's older brother's gonna keep his hands to himself
And that somebody's gon' believe her when she tells 🎶 2/
🎶 But what are you gonna tell her
When she's wrong?
Will you just shrug and say it's been that way all along?
What are you gonna tell her
When she figures out
That all this time you built her up just so the world could let her down? 🎶 3/
Read 4 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
14 Mar
Gov. Tate Reeves absurdly told OAN viewers that 95% of Jackson now has clean water. That's 100% false.

All 43,000 city surface water connections remain unsafe to drink.

Read part 1 of @nickjudin's examination of the truth behind Jackson's water crisis: mississippifreepress.org/10153/under-th…
"Underneath the streets, Jackson’s heart is still frozen. 43,000 veins shiver and contract in the cold, gasping for liquid. Each day, when it comes flooding through, the pipes will fissure and burst, 100 jagged breaks beneath the pavement in all."
mississippifreepress.org/10153/under-th…
"It’s the capital city of Mississippi. What does it look like to have your capital city routinely not have drinkable water? It’s representative of a failed state. It’s not special treatment to make sure people have access to human rights.” —@smartstatistic
mississippifreepress.org/10153/under-th…
Read 6 tweets

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