Left: Former Florida House of Representatives candidate Liz Cornell (via Facebook). Right: Police officers escort protester Jacob Engels from a Florida synagogue Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, in Plantation, Fla., before a speech by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum. (AP Photo/Terry Spencer)
A right-wing blogger with links to the Proud Boys extremist group in Florida is now a wanted man after apparently refusing to provide court-ordered information in a defamation case against him.
Ninth Judicial Circuit Judge James Craner issued a Writ of Bodily Attachment earlier this week ordering the arrest of Jacob Engels, the publisher of the Central Florida Post blog. Engels was sued by Elizabeth Cornell, a former candidate for the Florida House of Representatives, in August 2022 over published allegations he made about her during her primary against fellow GOP candidate Taylor Yarkosky, who went on to win the seat.
When Cornell was still a candidate, Engels published a post on his blog in which he “attempted to create false impressions about Cornell’s career as a financial planner,” according to the 2022 defamation complaint. The post allegedly “juxtaposed a series of facts, intentionally taken out of context, while omitting other facts to create a false impression.”
He also implied that Cornell “engaged in tortious conduct in her business dealings with clients” and claimed to have court documents that incriminated Cornell, the complaint said. According to Cornell, Engels also conspired with political operatives, including Yarkosky, to undermine her campaign.
After months of apparently failing to provide discovery responses, despite being held in contempt and ordered to do so by Craner in April, the judge had finally had enough.
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“Defendant was held in contempt for failing and refusing to comply with the Court’s Order dated April 28, 2023, mandating compliance with discovery in this matter (‘Discovery Order’),” the writ says. “Defendant received notice of the Discovery Order as well as the Contempt Order and Order to Show Cause yet has failed to purge the contempt.”
Craner found that Engels “remains in willful contempt” of the court’s orders.
Neither Engels nor lawyers for Cornell immediately responded to Law&Crime’s request for comment.
Read Craner’s writ below.
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