Lawmaker who sponsored Florida’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill faces fraud charges

FILE - Florida state Rep. Joe Harding listens during a Local Administration and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee hearing in a legislative session on Jan. 13, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. Harding has been indicted for defrauding a loan program offered by the federal government to help small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File) (Phelan M. Ebenhack, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A Florida lawmaker best known for sponsoring Florida’s controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by critics as the “Don’t Say Gay” law, was indicted on six felony counts by a federal grand jury, including money laundering and wire fraud, officials said Wednesday.

Rep. Joe Harding, R-Williston, “(participated) in a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration and (obtained) coronavirus-related small business loans by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Harding, 35, was first elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2020.

According to prosecutors, Harding made “false and fraudulent” SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications and “made false representations in (the) supporting loan documentation, in the names of dormant business entities.”

“Harding obtained fraudulently created bank statements for one of the dormant business entities which were used as supporting documentation for one of his fraudulent EIDL loan applications,” prosecutors said.

Authorities allege that Harding obtained and attempted to obtain more than $150,000 in federal funds to which he was not entitled.

He is being charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of false statements and two counts of illegal monetary transactions.

Harding is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 11 in Gainesville federal court.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, 10 years for money laundering and five years for making false statements.

Harding did not immediately return an emailed request for comment from The Associated Press. It is unclear if he has hired a lawyer.

Read the indictment here:


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Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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