This is getting out of hand

For the record, I have no suicidal ideations. I went to the doctor last week and got a clean bill of health.

Dec 10, 2023

I never really believed that Tom Schweich’s death, after a whisper campaign against him, was a result of suicide.

Tom Schweich, the Missouri state auditor died in February, 2015, after a “whisper campaign that he was Jewish.” He was episcopalian.

What did he know?

Rumors were that former Missouri State Representative Cora Faith Walker died of a drug overdose. The official autopsy showed she had an unknown heart condition that caused her to collapse and die in a hallway after a party. There was no foul play. She was 37.

The whisper campaign has gotten out of hand.

It’s one thing to call a politician names. That happens, sometimes. It’s called dirty politics. So when, without any evidence other than my tweeting out a photograph of someone I say I met with, calling me names comes with the territory as a politician.

But harmful lies are being spread behind my back, and now they are becoming more public. Like this one that was on Twitter last night.

"Nicolas" says, Sarah Unsicker is trafficking foster children open your eyes people!!!!!!! — No, I do not traffic foster children, or any children.

Why do I have to defend such a lie? Anyone who knows my work-at all-knows I have spent significant effort into protecting children, including foster children, and into fighting human trafficking. So why force me to spend any time (which takes away from the real work) to defend against such lies?

The Backbone of the Whisper Campaign

I spoke with a good friend last night. She told me that people are calling and emailing her about what’s going on with me. She told me that at least one person has told her not to talk with me at all.

I haven’t seen those emails. Any of them.

In general, Missouri House Democrats aren’t calling me or talking with me. The only thing I am aware they want is for me to denounce Charles Johnson. And I believe I would readily denounce the person they think he is. If I knew that person. Or who they think he is. Or what they think about him.

I now have strangers calling my State Representative office calling me a holocaust denier and a Nazi.

My political opponent, Elad Gross is posting threads on Twitter stating, without evidence, that he feels threatened. I’m not sure why. On the other hand, if people are publicly calling me a child trafficker, I do worry about Q-Anon types who might decide to “protect children.”

Why would there be a Whisper Campaign against me?

What comes next might sound like a conspiracy theory. But, as Eric Garland says, a racketeering indictment is a conspiracy as well. At least until there is a conviction.

This really blew up on Monday, when I spent all day in the budget appropriations subcommittee with our Department of Social Services (DSS). In the morning, after I had posted a thread on Twitter, I saw T1, our communications staff in the parking garage. He didn’t say a thing about the hubbub over the weekend.

I asked questions during the budget committee. In the morning, I spent about 10 minutes asking questions of the law enforcement unit that works under our Department of Social Services (the STAT Team).2

Just after 4:00, I asked about audits of Community Partnership programs, and specifically the ARCHS Grant Program, and what kind of oversight is done on how they distribute TANF money.

At about 4:30, in the middle of a longer conversation started by Rep. John Voss and continued by Rep. Doug Richey about welfare benefits, I asked about reframing how we look at welfare benefits. “Can we ask what would be the required budget for the standard of living that we want Missourians to have? What else should be provided to make sure everybody has a decent standard of living?”

At around 4:50, I got a text message from T, asking to chat about my messaging going into campaign season.

Hi Sarah, Can we chat tomorrow morning before the subcommittee meets at 10? Want to go over a few messaging things with you as we get into session while you're campaigning.

Since he works for the House, he knows about the separation between government business and campaign business, so I thought this was odd. I responded at 5:30 by asking for a memo.

Hi T., I'm pretty secure in my messaging but if you would like to send a memo in your free time and share specific I'll give it a look

At 5:36, T responded, and I replied at 6:30, again saying I’m OK and sharing this link.

T: Cool, let's plan on 9:00. Me: I'm good with messaging, thanks. If you have something you need to say, write it up and send it to my campaign account.

At 5:41, I got a call from Elad Gross. I did not answer because there was a committee hearing going on. I did not know what he would be calling about.

ME: I'm in Budget committee. Elad Gross: You can call back whenever you have a moment.

Now the timeline is going to get harder to follow because a lot of things were happening at the same time, and all while I was trying to pay attention in budget committee.

At 6:21, I had an inquiry about the Children’s Division hotline and reasoning for closing hotline calls with no investigation.

My response (as documented earlier) to T was at 6:30. I also responded then to Elad, stating, “he’s not a holocaust denier.” (My reasoning at the time was that Elad had been, to that point, a friend, and I didn’t want him to think that I was associating with people who would deny his right to exist.)

At 6:33, I had a final inquiry with the Children’s Division about what we’re doing as a state to treat trauma, since that underlies drug use for so many individuals.

At 6:39, I had the following exchange with T (final Monday message from him at 7:10 PM)

T: Any reason you don't want to talk in person? Me:

T: No. We're talking tomorrow. No one is using me to lecture you. I'm going to lecture you, so I can hopefully impress upon you the severity and seriousness of what you're doing, who exactly you're doing it for, and why you need to stop for your own sake and the sake of the rest of the caucus. Nine o'clock. Your office. You can record it if you'd like. Me: What, specifically, have I said that you have a problem with. I will not meet with you before you tell me specific complaints. T: Saying that a survivor of sexual assault was pulling the victim card for one. There's more.

Me: Tell me more. T: No. We're talking in person. Tuesday, T: Waiting outside your office. Whenever you're ready.

At 6:45, I had the below exchange with Elad Gross, and I shared Charles Johnson’s Substack (this conversation ended with his message at 8:02 PM).

Elad Gross: "I can talk via text if you'd like, although I'd prefer a call. Is that man's name Charles Johnson? I am getting a lot of calls about this and I wanted to hear from you directly." Sarah Unsicker: "Yes, he is, and yes, he's a friend. There is a lot of disinformation out there about him. Probably the easiest way to learn what he is about (rather than what people say he is about) is his Substack. I sincerely appreciate you reaching out to me and asking directly about this. It is an important conversation, and people are not happy that he was in St. Louis, or the reasons he was here.(Honestly, it's probably easier to have this discussion over text, since it is easier to share links and other information and then we both have it documented. And it gives us both time to look into issues that we might bring up.)"

Elad: Have you read this blog and the articles written about him? Why was he in St. Louis? Sarah: Elad, Charles Johnson worked undercover for the United States Government for years. He is a donor to Yad Vashem and collaborates with pro-American agents of Israeli intelligence. Like many of his colleagues, he is smeared by hostile foreign intelligence and organized crime. He has taught me a lot about national security in Missouri. You two should really talk. Would you like his number?

Why do you believe him? And sure, you can send me his number, but, having just spent quite some time reading what this guy has written on multiple platforms, I am not sure that would be productive at all. So much antisemitism rears its head in the form of large-scale conspiracies. The stuff written here is extremely hard to follow, which is similar to his writings from years ago. And, similar to years ago, he claims some convenient excuse to try and get himself out of it. I also do not understand why you were going after some really good folks on Twitter this whole weekend. If your first response to me was about this guy not being a Holocaust denier before I even mentioned what I was calling about, I don't know why you would expect that other people would think otherwise before you engaged with them online. It's extremely damaging and hurtful to the folks you're treating that way, especially given where we are as a state right now, and especially given your position. This guy could be the greatest patriot in the history of the world, and that still wouldn't explain what you were doing. I don't get it, and I'm highly concerned about it. — His message at 8:02 PM. I did not respond to this message.

Also at 6:52 on Monday, I received the following text from J, a former state representative:

Hi Sarah. I wanted to touch base with you as it's been a while. We've had a year of sequential medical issues but things are finally calming down now. I'm rarely on Twitter/X but I jumped on today and saw the commotion surrounding you. Please know that if you need an ear, I'm here.

I agreed to talk with her, but given the busy week, did not follow up until Saturday. Here is the conversation from yesterday morning (I have not received a call since)

J: Sarah, I'm not available until 7 this evening. Could you come to my house if that works? S: 7:00 works. How about ice cream? Have you been to Sedara? J: I'd prefer to meet privately. Me: At this time, I'm not meeting with anyone privately at their home. Could we meet in a public park? J: I'm sorry. I can't accommodate. Me: I am also available for a phone call. You have my number.

On Tuesday, there was a Riverfront Times article talking about who Eric Garland and Charles Johnson are, without asking them for comment, and tying me to them.

More has happened since Monday, and I am no longer on any committees. I plan to post later today about the questions I would like to ask at this week’s hearings of DMH and DHSS, as well as send those questions to all of my colleagues.

I’m redacting T’s name to protect his privacy because he has not otherwise been named in this.

I asked T for a clip of this on Wednesday. Turnaround of this, or at least a response, is within within 2 hours. I had not heard back by the end of the work week, and I know he was the Capitol on Wednesday morning.