TALLAHASSEE — A Republican Florida lawmaker, who authored the controversial law dubbed "Don't Say Gay," was indicted for defrauding the federal coronavirus loan program for small businesses, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
A federal grand jury returned a six-count indictment against state Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Harding was the House sponsor of the Parental Rights in Education law, which restricts speech in public school classrooms about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Even before the law went into effect last summer, opponents said the legislation and its surrounding rhetoric contributed to a hostile environment for LGBTQ people.
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The indictment alleges that between December 2020 and March 2021 the legislator committed two acts of wire fraud by participating in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration and for using "false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises" to obtain the federal loans.
The indictment claims he made false and fraudulent SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications, and used the names of dormant businesses in supporting documentation. He made bank statements for one of those...
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