Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel, who filed to run for office in North Miami Beach, is having a hard time grasping the concept that public records are actual facts, that opinions are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, and that candidates for office are subject to scrutiny, criticism, and the obligation to voluntarily open up their lives, records, and characters to public debate.

According to the Election Standards published by the renowned Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, “Public officials are subject to greater scrutiny by society. Laws that penalize offensive expressions directed at public officials…restrict freedom of expression and the right to information.”

Unfortunately, since Linda Joseph chose to serve this blogger with a “Notice of False and Defamatory Publications” letter, we are now in the position to school Linda Joseph in the ways of politics.

In her letter, Linda Joseph is demanding a “full and fair correction, apology, retraction, removal of protected address information, and preservation of evidence,” of the allegedly “false and defamatory” statements this blogger allegedly made.

Even more incredible is the second paragraph of her letter, which states:

“The statements accuse me of crimes, fraud, dishonesty, unlawful candidacy, false identity, antisemitism, support for Hamas, theft, and other serious misconduct. They have been published repeatedly during an active municipal election campaign and disseminated to voters and third parties. I contend that the cumulative damage to my reputation, safety, campaign, professional standing, and emotional well-being exceeds $50,000, exclusive of interest, costs, and any additional damages recoverable by law. Damages continue to accrue.”

Linda then goes on to list ten (10) blogs that were published on VotersOpinion.com, which she previously claimed that she never reads.

For each individual blog, Linda (1) “identifies” alleged “false and defamatory” statements, (2) states a “basis for falsity,” and (3) and then DEMANDS a “correction” for each alleged “false and defamatory ” statement.

We will review each one of them here and state whether or not we believe that a correction is warranted.

If Linda Joseph has made a case that any statement we made is provably incorrect, we will be happy to oblige.  However, if we have proof that she is wrong in her assertion, we will provide a link to the actual public record that shows we are right and she is wrong.

Let’s get this show on the road.

1. Linda’s first “challenged publication and statement” was from the column, “North Miami Beach Carpetbagger “Ada Charles,” a/k/a Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Noel, has some thoughts 🤔.

Linda wrote, “Statements identified as false and defamatory: That I was ‘not a bona fide resident,’ was ‘ineligible to run,’ lied about my identity, and was not related to Ada Charles.”

She claims that her “Basis for falsity” is that, “I maintain that I am Linda Joseph Noel; Ada Charles is my sister; I did not impersonate her; and my qualifying and residency records-including my lease, voter-address history, driver-license information, utility records, and City. qualifying file-contradict the assertion that I fraudulently or unlawfully sought office. The full meeting recording and sign-in circumstances must be reviewed rather than a selected excerpt.”

Linda then DEMANDED:  “State that I did not impersonate Ada Charles; accurately state our relationship; withdraw the categorical nonresidency and ineligibility accusations; and link to or describe the complete qualifying record.”

Our response:

Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel claims that Ada Charles is her sister.  We have no way of proving or disproving her assertion; therefore, we cannot “accurately state” their relationship.  We will, however, accurately state that we have not found any evidence that Ada Charles is her sister, but that does not mean they are not “sisters.”

While we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Linda Joseph Noel does not live in the City of North Miami Beach, we also NEVER SAID that she “fraudulently or unlawfully sought office.”

She literally made that up.

We did, however, provide links to public records that strongly indicate that Linda Joseph Noel is most likely “not a bona fide resident and is ineligible to run in that city.”  We merely provided those public records so that North Miami Beach voters can come to their own conclusion.

We have no idea what she means by her demand that we “link to or describe the complete qualifying record.”

If she’s referring to the documents she presented to the City Clerk as “proof” of her residency, we never made a public records request for them, and we never claimed to possess them.

We can’t post documents that we don’t have.

Linda also claims that “The full meeting recording and sign-in circumstances must be reviewed rather than a selected excerpt.”

She apparently didn’t notice that the video uploaded to that blog is actually a recording of “the full meeting,” and not a “selected excerpt.”

Note to Linda:  The embedded video code is programmed to begin at the actual time she is called up to the podium by the City Clerk to speak during public comment.

In the subject blog, we accurately described what happened, quoted parts of her speech, and reported:

At hour 1:19:33 of that meeting, the Clerk called “Ada Charles” to speak, and Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel, walked up to the podium.  Right out of the box, she claimed, “I’m Linda Joseph.  I’m not Ada Charles.  She’s my sister.  I’m Linda Noel.”

When the Clerk told her that the name “Ada Charles” was listed, Linda said, “I know, I signed in for her.”

Anyone who read that blog, including Linda, was free to rewind the video to the very beginning and watch the entire six-hour, six-minute, and 22-second meeting if they so desired.

Or rather, if they could stomach it.

2. Linda’s next “challenged publication and statement” was from the column, Does Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel, EVER tell the truth?

She described that our statements were “false and defamatory,” by claiming, “That I ‘does not reside in North Miami Beach,’ lied about my birthplace, and invented a Haitian identity for political support.”

Linda describes that her “Basis for falsity” as, “I identify as Haitian-born and Haitian American. A data field or secondary record is not a substitute for a certified birth record and does not establish that I fabricated my identity. My residency evidence and City qualifying materials contradict the categorical accusation that I did not reside in North Miami Beach.”

Linda DEMANDED:  “Withdraw the categorical claims that I fabricated my birthplace or Haitian identity and that I fraudulently claimed North Miami Beach residency; explain any source-record limitation or data-entry discrepancy.”

Our response:

First, we’ve already addressed her claim that she is a North Miami Beach resident, and we reiterate what we stated above.

Secondly, we NEVER SAID that she “INVENTED A HAITIAN IDENTITY FOR POLITICAL SUPPORT.”

She literally made that up.

And yet Linda has the chutzpah to call this blogger a liar!

As for her comment, “I identify as Haitian-born,” we are not sure what that even means.

For example, this blogger would like nothing better than to “identify as a cat,” but unfortunately, I am rooted in reality.

Oh, well.

We are also not sure what she means about a “data field or secondary record.”  We also do not have a copy of her “certified birth record” since we don’t know where she was born, which is actually the point.

As we stated in the blog, the Certified Copy of her Certificate of Marriage, which we have since obtained, states she was born in the Bahamas, yet in other publications she claims she is “Haitian-born.”

The Miami-Dade County Marriage Licenses page reflects that one does not have to produce a birth certificate in order to apply for one.

However, in addition to presenting a photo identification, one needs to fill in the “State or Country of Birth” on the application.

It’s basically an honor system.

Therefore, if Linda Joseph filled in “Bahamas” as her place of birth, she either was actually born there … or she lied.

Which frankly would not surprise us.

But, as we clearly noted in our blog, Linda Joseph has some thoughts. And so do we.:

“Please note, Linda, no one cares WHERE you were born.  That’s not the issue!

The fact that you simply refuse to clear up the discrepancy and just TELL THE TRUTH is troublesome, to say the least.

Just answer the question and that will be the end of the mystery.”

Ironically, this particular blog we posted was not even meant to criticize her, but to respectfully point out that she has been less than truthful and that candidates running for office have a responsibility to be honest and transparent with those whose votes she is seeking.

And yet, that was the blog that set her off on this rampage.

Go figure.

3. Linda continued by claiming “Statements identified as false and defamatory” in our blog, Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Noel, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel just keeps making a bigger and bigger fool of herself. It’s like watching a one woman clown show!

She wrote, “That I had been ‘impersonating an elected official,’ committed a third-degree felony, and was not a Director with the Fight for $15 movement.”

Her “Basis for falsity” states, “I deny impersonating an elected official and deny committing the alleged felony. No charging document, conviction, or judicial finding establishing that crime was identified. My employment records, organizational records, archived materials, and witnesses support my Fight for $15 leadership history; absence from a Wikipedia page is not proof that I did not hold the role.”

Linda DEMANDED:  “Unequivocally retract the felony and criminal-impersonation accusations and correct the denial of my Fight for $15 leadership history.”

Our response:

In this blog, we wrote:

As we recently reported, North Miami Beach Commission Candidate Carpetbagger Linda Joseph (sometimes known as Linda Joseph Noel) has been impersonating an elected official, which is a third degree felony according to Florida Statute 843.0855.

Even though she is currently in hot water for her duplicity (more to come on that), she continues lying about pretty much everything and anything.

In a recent Facebook post/political ad,  she claims she was a ‘Director with the Fight for $15 movement.'”

In the very first sentence we referred to a previous blog, in which we posted a hyperlink to a letter that we received via public records request, that Linda sent to the City Clerk on a letterhead referring to herself as “Commissioner Linda Joseph Noel.”

Here is the screenshot of the letterhead and footer that she created:

Our comment that she is “impersonating an elected official” was made tongue in cheek in our usual and customary sarcastic manner.

However, if that throwaway line offends Her Highness, we will retract it and merely state that, “Linda Joseph used a letterhead falsely stating her title as ‘Commissioner Linda Joseph Noel.'”

Better?

Also, we did not accuse her of being a felon.  We merely stated that if someone were to impersonate an elected official, it would be considered a third degree felony.

After all, reading is fundamental!

Nevertheless, we hereby state that Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel is not a convicted felon.

Better?

And finally, since Linda Joseph takes issue with Wikipedia, we decided to try our hand at Google AI to specifically ask, “Was Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel ever a director with the fight for $15 movement?”

We received this response:

We wanted to make double sure of this answer, so we took it a step further and asked, “She specifically claims that she was a director of this movement. Is this true or not?”

We received this in response to our second question.

Considering that Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel, is a huge AI enthusiast, we figured she would accept Google AI’s expertise … and final answer.

Moreover, Linda wants us to “correct the denial of my Fight for $15 leadership history.”

However, we said nothing about her “leadership history.”

We merely disputed her inaccurate campaign Facebook ad in which she literally published this statement:

And, yes, that is a cropped screenshot of Linda Joseph’s ad, which you can view in its entirety here, and which we are not going to publish here because we are under no obligation to campaign for her.

Unless we obtain evidence to the contrary that Linda’s own letterhead did not say what it actually says, and/or that Linda Joseph Noel was truly a “Director with the Fight for $15 movement,” we have nothing to correct or retract with respect to this blog.

Since Linda Joseph, a/k/a Linda Joseph Noel, had a laundry list of ten, count ’em, ten blogs that she takes issue with, we will continue our analysis of each one in one or more following columns, depending on how long they end up being.

We prefer to keep things short in order to not lose our audience, especially with such an important issue.

We will also try to keep the sarcasm at as bare a minimum as humanly possible.

Or, rather, we promise to try.

Sincerely,

Stephanie