FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2019 ALLIGATOR 3
Sen. Sanders’ team was also contacted but declined the ofer EMAILS, from pg. 1 UF SG wanting to bring both Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Bernie Sanders to campus during Fall. Wren told him she could be of assistance and
Murphy asked her to email him, Murphy said. The Alligator confirmed through public records request that Murphy was in contact with Sanders’ staff Sept. 20. On Sept. 22, a representative from Sanders’ staff declined Murphy’s invitation, saying that Sanders’ “schedule was
Sam Thomas/ Alligator Staff
UF Student Body President Michael Murphy sits in University Auditorium before Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle speak on Oct. 10.
very full and he is traveling extensively.” Murphy said he told Wren on the phone that he wanted to bring Donald Trump Jr. for a non-campaign event. He said Wren connected him to Trump Jr.’s booking agent to plan with the appropriate contacts. Murphy said his staff also reached out to Sanders’ campaign and non-campaign staff, but his non-campaign staff declined the invitation to speak. Sanders’ representatives asked if he could host a campaign speech on campus, and Murphy and his staff declined, Murphy said. “The only difference was Sen. Sanders’ non-campaign staff declined our invitation to speak in his official capacity,” Murphy wrote in an email. “Any attempt to try and separate one from the other with allegations of impropriety is deceptive and inflammatory.” If Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle came to UF for a fundraising event, expenses would need to be disclosed to the Federal Election Commission because student activity fees cannot be used to support a political party or candidate, according to Alligator archives. As of then, the event did not fall under the FEC’s jurisdiction. When The Alligator called Wren on Wednesday evening, she said she didn’t know who Murphy was. Wren later responded to questions via email, saying she met him over the summer and he expressed an interest in bringing Donald Trump Jr. to UF. She said she followed up with him “via my private email in my personal capacity and mistakenly forgot to remove my Trump Victory signature.”
TIMELINE July 4: Wren and Murphy met at Wren’s house Sept. 10: Wren emailed Murphy Sept. 11: Murphy responded to Wren’s email Sept. 20: Murphy contacted Sanders’ team Sept. 22: Sanders’ team declines Murphy’s invitation Oct 10: Trump Jr. and Guilfoyle speak at UF Oct. 30: Wren emails posted online Wren said after speaking on the phone with Murphy, UF representatives were connected with Donald Trump Jr.’s office. Wren’s email comes from a domain with Bluebonnet Fundraising whose goal is to “make fundraising for your group one of the easiest you will ever do,” according to its website. Wren is the company’s president, according to a Politico profile. She told Politico she got her start in politics working with John McCain’s 2008 campaign. She was also the finance director for U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s 2014 campaign, according to the Post and Courier. @alyssashantelle afeliciano@alligator.org
Rep. Yoho’s Twitter account deactivated, reactivated IT IS UNKNOWN IF HE’S RUNNING FOR A FIFTH TERM IN CONGRESS By Lina Ruiz Alligator Staff Writers
The personal Twitter account of Republican Congressman Ted Yoho was briefly deactivated this week but is now back up. Yoho’s spokesperson Kat Cammack confirmed in an email to
The Alligator Thursday night that Twitter officials informed Yoho’s campaign team, “The Ted Yoho account has been reinstated. The account was mistakenly suspended due to impersonation.” Bot Twitter account @CongressChanges, which tracks when “Congress-related Twitter accounts are renamed, deactivated or reactivated,” posted a tweet Wednesday night announcing the deactivation of @TedYoho. Yoho, who is currently serving
his fourth term for Florida’s 3rd District, is filed for the 2020 election but has not announced if he is running for a fifth term. Cammack wrote Twitter suspended the account on Tuesday because of a reported post about a late friend of Yoho who recently passed away which “violated community standards.” “There was no intentional effort on our behalf to deactivate or delete the account as the Congressman is still filed to run for
the 2020 election,” she wrote. When Yoho first ran for Congress in 2012, he stated in a political advertisement that “after eight years in Washington, I’ll come home.” While it is unclear if Yoho will run again, there are two Republicans and two Democrats running for his seat who are filed either with the Florida Division of Elections or the Federal Election Commission. A member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee spoke
with CNN Tuesday about Yoho’s lack of participation in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The committee is one of three “hearing testimony from key witnesses behind closed doors.” Despite being able to, he has not attended any dispositions, according to CNN. @lina_ruiz48 lruiz@alligator.org
Man arrested, accused of Midtown attack that left UF student critically injured HE WAS RELEASED FROM JAIL ON A $30,000 BOND THURSDAY MORNING By Dana Cassidy Alligator Staff Writer
An Okeechobee man was arrested after police said he attacked a UF student near Midtown, leaving him in a pool of blood. Jacob Dupree, 22, was booked into jail Wednesday after police issued a warrant for his arrest following the Sept. 29 incident, according to Gainesville Police. Dupree was released from the Alachua County Jail on a $30,000 bond early Thursday morning on a battery charge. Court records don’t say specifi-
cally why Dupree attacked the UF finance sophomore, Edward Parkhill, but a witness and friend of Parkhill told police that “four guys began Dupree yelling at them and were looking to start with them” when Dupree “sucker punched” Parkhill, according to the complaint. Parkhill, was critically injured and taken to UF Health Shands Hospital with a fractured skull, police said. Parkhill is a member of UF’s Kappa Alpha fraternity. A GoFundMe was made to help pay for Parkhill’s medical expenses, which now has more than $27,000
raised of a $30,000 goal as of Thursday morning. The page also says the hospital released Parkhill Oct. 9 and he is still recovering from the incident. GPD released surveillance footage Oct. 15 of the suspect walking past The Social at Midtown wearing a patterned shirt. Surveillance footage, eyewitness accounts and card transactions made by Dupree that night helped law enforcement identify him as the suspect, according to the arrest report. Neither Dupree’s phone number nor attorney contact information were listed in his court records as of Thursday morning. @danacassidy_ dcassidy@alligator.org
Courtesy to The Alligator
Gainesville Police released surveillance footage of a suspect walking through Midtown.