ARS TECHNICA – Scandal has reached a full boil at America’s Frontline Doctors—the right-wing pseudo-medical group notorious for peddling bogus COVID-19 treatments and fear-mongering over vaccines and other safe, effective health measures.
The scandal has split the group—aka AFLDS—into warring factions, with its prominent founder, Simone Gold, accused of a slew of wrongdoing, including using the charity group’s funds to buy a $3.6 million mansion for herself and her boyfriend.
She’s also accused of staging a hostile coup of the organization in the weeks since her release from federal prison for her role in the January 6, 2021, insurrection, which the group has defended.
The coup has left employees locked out of email accounts and other resources, according to a lawsuit filed by AFLDS against Gold on November 4. The lawsuit also claims Gold seized control of the group’s bank accounts, which reportedly contain at least $7.3 million.
For now, it appears Gold also has control over the AFLDS website, which has been pumping out fawning and indignant press releases on her behalf. It’s in an extraordinarily sordid state, even for the ignoble group.
“AFLDS has raked in millions of dollars from donations and by helping to dole out dubious prescriptions of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.”
AFLDS first went viral in the early days of the pandemic, memorably spewing pandemic misinformation from the steps of the Supreme Court in a July 2020 event organized by the group Tea Party Patriots.
Far-right media outlet Breitbart livestreamed the gathering, and then-President Donald Trump retweeted video clips. The viral clips featured AFLDS member Stella Immanuel falsely claiming hydroxychloroquine is a “cure for COVID.”
Immanuel is also notable for previously claiming that gynecological conditions are caused by having sex in dreams with demons and witches, that modern medicine uses “alien DNA,” and that scientists are trying to make a vaccine to prevent people from being religious.
Since the group’s startling national debut, it has carried on with its mission, which it describes as providing “We The People with independent information from the world’s top experts in medicine and law so you can be empowered with facts, protect your health, and exert your inalienable and Constitutionally guaranteed rights.”
In doing so, AFLDS has raked in millions of dollars from donations and by helping to dole out dubious prescriptions of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
It has also continued its links to far-right political activity, which brought Gold to the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection … READ MORE.
