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University investigation finds ‘no merit’ to allegations officials suppressed access to Florida COVID data

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University investigation finds ‘no merit’ to allegations officials suppressed access to Florida COVID data

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The College of Florida has accomplished an investigation into claims that college or state officers used stress to destroy or forestall entry to state COVID-19 information, discovering that the allegations had been meritless.

The investigation, carried out by the varsity’s Workplace of the Vice President for Analysis and the Workplace of Compliance and Ethics, was launched after a December 2021 report from the UF School Senate Advert Hoc Committee on Educational Freedom. That report alleged that researchers at UF’s Gainesville campus felt exterior stress to destroy information and confronted “limitations” to accessing, analyzing and publishing their findings.

FLORIDA RECOMMENDATION AGAINST VACCINATING HEALTHY CHILDREN DRAWS SCATHING MEDIA RESPONSE

“Upon finishing its investigation, the committee discovered no advantage to the allegations concerning the dealing with of COVID-19 information at UF,” the investigation’s leaders — Vice President for Analysis David Norton and Chief Compliance, Ethics and Privateness Officer Terra DeBois — mentioned in a letter to high school President Kent Fuchs.

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The letter mentioned that the investigation included interviews and critiques of assorted paperwork which led the investigation committee to imagine that the accusations had been seemingly primarily based on an October 2020 incident the place a Florida Division of Well being consultant “expressed issues concerning UF’s use and administration of FDOH information that was gathered completely to be used in FDOH public well being surveillance (PHS) actions.”

DESANTIS ASKING STUDENTS TO TAKE OFF MASKS RESULTS IN MEDIA ‘MELTDOWNS’ DESPITE MASKLESS SOTU ADDRESS

The varsity officers elaborated, explaining that in the summertime of 2020 the FDOH employed college workers to assist conduct surveillance for contact tracing functions and that this included granting them entry to FDOH information and having them signal a confidentiality settlement. That October, a few of the faculty workers shared a few of that data at a Zoom assembly, the place a few of the different members had been FDOH representatives. In response to the college, CDC representatives had been additionally within the assembly.

“These UF workers didn’t have the authority to share the information or use them for analysis functions,” the letter mentioned. “In response, the UF crew was reminded by college directors to be cognizant of the boundaries and restrictions associated to the use and assortment of FDOH information.”

Fox Information reached out to FDOH and a consultant for Gov. Ron DeSantis for remark however they didn’t instantly reply.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks on the Conservative Political Motion Convention Feb. 24, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. 
(AP Photograph/John Raoux)

DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw responded to the investigation’s findings by taking a shot at reporters who repeated the allegations.

“Let me guess, all of the churnalists who wrote these breathless headlines final summer season repeating proof free allegations in opposition to @govrondesantis will apologize now. Simply kidding, they may fake this by no means occurred,” Pushaw tweeted.

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'F— the White women': Black activists tied to VP Harris could derail Dem 'unity' message with past rhetoric

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'F— the White women': Black activists tied to VP Harris could derail Dem 'unity' message with past rhetoric

A pair of Black female activists, who have met with Vice President Harris several times and previously vowed to get “real serious” about helping her become the next president, could alienate some of the “White women for Kamala” supporters with their past rhetoric as they mobilize ahead of November’s election.

Cora Masters Barry, an appointee of Democrat D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and longtime civil rights activist, and Melanie Campbell, who leads the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, have visited the White House more than 50 times combined during the Biden administration, including nearly a dozen visits with Harris or her staff, a Fox News Digital review found.

Weeks before President Biden and Harris were sworn into office in 2021, Barry and Campbell participated in a public Zoom call in which they made controversial statements about Trump supporters and attacked White voters, specifically White women, which could cause some internal clashes as different coalitions mobilize to try to get Harris into the White House.

‘WE JUST TELL THE TRUTH’: VP HARRIS’ LONGTIME MENTOR REPEATEDLY DEFENDED CONTROVERSIAL OBAMA PASTOR

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Harris privately met with Cora Masters Barry who said, “F— white women,” on a conference call. (Fox News Digital)

Approximately 164,000 White women hopped on a Zoom call last week, which was organized by Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts and other female celebrities. The call, titled “White Women: Answer the Call,” reportedly raised millions of dollars for Harris’ campaign and could be a major fundraising force over the next few months. 

However, the unearthed comments from the two activists could cause some internal tension for the Harris campaign as they look to mobilize different voting blocs and have called for “Unity.”

“If you claim to stand for unity, you need to do more than just use the word,” Harris recently said.

“We have to change our strategy. We got to get our people. We have to get our – they got their people. They got all the trailer parks all covered,” Barry said during the Zoom. “All them people up in West Virginia and the hills, they’re covered. They got them all the way there to Wall Street.”

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“[Trump] did that, and we’re sitting here talking about the White women. F— the white women– excuse me – forget the White women. They’re going to do what the White men tell them to do,” Barry continued, eliciting laughter and clapping from Campbell.

“What they tell themselves,” Campbell interjected.

“They be smiling in their faces, they want to stay in charge,” Barry continued, with Campbell reacting affirmatively in the background. “I don’t care nothing about them, we got to do what we got to do.”

Barry went on to say that the Black community has to “get real serious about organizing to elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States” and that she doesn’t “want no women’s parade.”

“If they have another Women’s March – I’ll go over there and blow it up,” Barry said.

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Barry also attacked supporters of then-President Trump, comparing them to the Ku Klux Klan by saying, “I’m not saying everyone who voted for Trump is wearing a white sheet, but they got one in their closet, and it comes out when we start messing with the economic value or the balance of power.”

FLASHBACK: HARRIS FUMED AT AMERICANS FOR SAYING ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ BEFORE ILLEGAL MIGRANTS GOT PROTECTIONS

Melanie Campbell

Melanie Campbell and Cora Masters Barry participate in a meeting with Vice President Harris in 2021. (Melanie Campbell X account)

Barry went on to say at the time that, should Biden win the 2020 election, her group has “got to start organizing to make sure that the next president of the United States is a Black woman.”

“And that’s not going to happen if we don’t reach all of our Black people, because they’re the ones who are going to put her in there,” Barry added. “Those White folks ain’t going to put her in there.”

During the same Zoom call, Campbell was also critical of White women who have cast their votes for Trump, saying “race” and “White privilege” were driving factors and that she didn’t understand how they could support someone who “disrespects you as a woman.”

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FLASHBACK: NEW HARRIS CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER MADE SEVERAL INSENSITIVE COMMENTS ABOUT WOMEN, GAY PEOPLE

“Am I surprised? No. Am I frustrated? Yeah – determined that we have to still find a way to get up and deal with it,” Campbell said. “What I’m not interested in doing is what I did, Cora, in 2016 is have these fruitless conversations with my White girlfriends who want to tell me we need to sit down and have a conversation. No we don’t. You need to go talk to your sister. You need to go talk to your cousin.”

“I have no interest in understanding why White folks do what they do. They do what they do because they doing what they do if I was them. They’re fighting to stay in charge and in control. That’s what they’re doing. I ain’t mad at them. What I am is mad at us,” Barry added, referring to the Black community.

Near the end of the Zoom call, Barry said it is a “perfect time” to mobilize Black voters and push their agenda “because there’s a lot of White guilt money out there.”

“I’m gonna take it- put it in my community and radicalize my people so they can come for your job. I’m saying it’s time to act,” she continued.

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Cora Masters Barry

Fox News Digital previously reported on Cora Masters Barry praising antisemite religious leader Louis Farrakhan in 2022. (Getty Images/File)

In addition to Barry’s comments about White women, Fox News Digital previously reported on Barry lavishly praising notorious antisemite Louis Farrakhan in 2022 at a private event honoring her late husband, former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry.

During Barry’s remarks at the private ceremony, she praised Farrakhan, who has espoused antisemitic rhetoric for decades, including calling Jews “wicked” and comparing them to termites. Barry referred to Farrakhan as a “friend” and “member of the family” while also telling him “I love you more than words will ever say.”

“Minister Farrakhan, we love you more than you love us. You just don’t know it,” she added.

Louis Farrakhan delivers a speech

The Anti-Defamation League labeled Louis Farrakhan the “most popular antisemite in America” in 2020. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Farrakhan in turn praised Barry, saying, “Praise God for this woman. She is a treasure. A real treasure.”

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A spokesperson for both Barry and Campbell defended the comment about White women, previously telling Fox News Digital that the comment was in reference to how White women are not as reliable Democrat voters and that the vice president was not part of the conversation.

Barry, Campbell and the Harris campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Fox News’ Houston Keene contributed to this report.

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U.S. lawmakers join Latin American counterparts to form Panamerican Congress

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U.S. lawmakers join Latin American counterparts to form Panamerican Congress

A group of U.S. lawmakers is meeting this week with Latin American counterparts to form a new multinational congress to tackle thorny cross-border issues such as climate change and migration throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Organizers say the newly formed Panamerican Congress will differ from the European Union Parliament because it won’t make laws for the region. Nor, they say, is it to be seen as an alternative to the Organization of American States, the largest regional body that is often criticized for supposedly being dominated by Washington.

Instead organizers hope the new body will create a fresh forum to brainstorm ideas and come up with policies to address persistent regional problems.

“Instead of the old model of the United States trying to dominate Latin America, we should be working with Latin America to survive climate change and address joint economic needs,” among other issues, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in an interview.

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“We need new models to replace the Monroe Doctrine,” he added, referring to the 19th century U.S. policy that discouraged European interference in Latin America but was also used at times to assert U.S. dominance over the hemisphere.

In addition to the United States, seven other countries from around the hemisphere will be represented at the gathering in the Colombian capital of Bogota.

Casar is one of three Democratic U.S. Congress members — along with the chief of staff for a fourth — forming the delegation from here.

Besides Colombia, the other nations participating are Brazil, Canada, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. Most are led by progressive governments, and their representatives at the congress are primarily from left-leaning political parties.

The three-day meeting will begin Saturday. Host country Colombia, governed by the first leftist president in its history, Gustavo Petro, will open the congress with Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo.

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It is being organized from Washington by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a progressive think tank, which invited a limited group of Democratic lawmakers who are focused on Latin America.

“The challenges plaguing our hemisphere — democratic backsliding, climate crisis, deep poverty, political violence, family displacement — are too urgent, too significant for any one nation to address alone,” Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois, another member of the U.S. delegation, said in a statement. “The Panamerican Congress convenes the legislators and leaders from across the Americas committed to realizing a future of justice, peace, and stability throughout the continent — together.”

As an example of what the congress has the potential to do, Casar pointed to discussions he had with counterparts on the Amazon rainforest and the vast devastation the region is suffering. As a result, he lobbied in support of a Biden commitment of $100 million a year for five years for the Amazon Fund, a Brazilian investment initiative dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Amazon basin. (About $50 million was delivered to the fund, but ultimately the GOP-controlled House blocked additional money, Casar’s office said.)

“It is encouraging to see U.S. legislators, who have been largely absent from regional dialogue efforts historically, engaging in extensive discussions with their regional peers in a spirit of mutual respect and equality,” said Alex Main, who heads international policy for the Center for Economic and Policy Research.

Casar said that the Biden administration has made progress in some areas, such as addressing the root causes of illegal immigration to the U.S. and taking steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels that are heating up the planet. But there’s still a long way to go, he added.

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“We started to see a real shift, but in [the U.S.] Congress we are way behind,” he said. “We have to pick up the pace.”

It is unclear how much influence the Panamerican Congress ultimately can have. It will be seen as a progressive effort, which means there is little chance for bipartisan support in the U.S. There will probably be similar reluctance to participate in more conservative-led governments of Latin America and the Caribbean.

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House Freedom Caucus chair ousted by Trump-backed challenger in Republican primary showdown

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House Freedom Caucus chair ousted by Trump-backed challenger in Republican primary showdown

It took six weeks to determine, but House Freedom Caucus chair Rep. Bob Good of Virginia was defeated in his bid for renomination by a challenger supported by former President Trump.

John McGuire, a Virginia state senator and former Navy SEAL backed by Trump, will win the Republican primary in Virginia’s reliably red 5th Congressional District, in the southern part of the Commonwealth. ‘

McGuire came out on top in a recount conducted Tuesday. Election officials certified that McGuire won the June primary election by 374 votes out of nearly 63,000 ballots cast, or six-tenths of a percentage point. 

But because McGuire’s victory margin in the primary was less than one percent, Good was able to seek a recount. But he had to pay for the recount, because the margin was greater than half a percent.

FOX NEWS POLL: BIDEN, TRUMP IN A DEAD HEAT IN VIRGINIA

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Rep. Bob Good (R-VA), chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks alongside fellow members during a press conference on the government funding bill, at the U.S. Capitol on March 22, 2024 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Good becomes the first House Republican incumbent this election cycle to be ousted by a primary challenger, in a contentious intra-party primary battle that pitted conservatives versus conservatives and Trump against some of his biggest allies in the House of Representatives. 

Good incurred Trump’s wrath for being one of just a handful of House Republicans to endorse Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP presidential primaries.

Even though the two-term congressman avoided criticizing Turmp and quickly endorsed the former president after DeSantis ended his White House bid in January, Trump wrote on this Truth Social platform that “the damage has been done!”

The former president in May endorsed McGuire, who also had the backing of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a conservative firebrand and major Trump ally who is a vocal critic of Good who last year broke with the House Freedom Caucus. The group is considered the most far-right organization of lawmakers in the chamber.

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Republican California Rep. Kevin McCarthy

Then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, as he was ousted as House Speaker. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE BACKS CHALLENGER TO FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIR AS 2024 STIRS HOUSE GOP CIVIL WAR

Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also targeted Good, who was one of eight Republicans last autumn who joined with Democrats to vote to oust McCarthy from his leadership position.

However, Good had the support of Reps. Matt Gaetz and Byron Donalds of Florida, two conservatives who are also strong backers of Trump.

Additionally, fellow House Freedom Caucus members, Reps. Chip Roy of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona, joined Good in Virginia for a rally on Friday.

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Even though he was targeted by Trump, Good spotlighted his support for the former president as he ran for re-election.

“Happy Birthday to the best and next president of the United States, President Trump!” Good wrote on social media on Friday, on the former president’s 78th birthday.

Good also showed up earlier this spring at Trump’s criminal trial in New York City, to show his support for the former president.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

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