Rebekah Jones continues GoFundMe efforts with $300K+ already raised

Rebekah Jones. Image via Rebekah Jones.

Data scientist Rebekah Jones is fundraising on GoFundMe again.

The COVID-19 dashboard architect-turned-Department of Health whistleblower (and occasional prospective candidate for Congress) has updated a GoFundMe. The fundraising effort now includes links to a Miami Herald feature on her, and she is promoting the page from her new Instagram account.

Based on a screenshot shared on her social media on Monday, she has raised thousands in less than 12 hours, though what the money will be used for remains somewhat unclear.

“The truth sets us free, they say,” reads the official summary on her GoFundMe, “But for whistleblowers, the truth can often imprison us.”

Jones has dropped a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, though she has indicated she could file a new one. An ongoing criminal case against Jones for allegedly using a DOH computer system to send text messages to employees is in the discovery phase.

Whatever costs Jones may accrue in legal bills, though, should fall short of the $500,000 fundraising goal she has set on her GoFundMe.

As of 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, the page had raised $306,015 toward that goal, with a steady stream of small donations coming through each hour. Notably, a screenshot shared on her Instagram the evening before indicated she had $302,223 toward that goal of a half million dollars.

She has had the current GoFundMe up since Dec. 7, receiving an anonymous donation of $10,000 about six months ago around the time the state leveled a charge against her.

But it’s not her first fundraising page. She set up another page to help pay her bills after she was fired in a high-profile dispute about management of Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard. Jones said she was terminated because she refused to “manually change data to drum up support for the plan to reopen” the state. Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office said it was for insubordination.

That GoFundMe account raised $260,185.

The page also includes a link to a fundraising appeal for Florida COVID Action, with a Maryland address to send mail “if you’re looking to help out, whether to send a check to help my ongoing fight against the state or just to send a note to say hi.” Jones moved to Maryland after FDLE officers raided her home and subsequently filed a charge against her.

Most recently, Jones threatened to run against U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, but backed off that bid.