The State Senate is working through their legislative load in week 4, but there’s a specter over everything that they are doing. The absolute freak-show that was dropped in the legislature’s lap last week when State Senator Julie Frye Mueller was suddenly and mysteriously suspended of all duties by the State Senate, leaving many to ask “why?” “what did she do?” with only the sketchiest of reports that it involved Senator Frye Mueller harassing an employee of the legislative research council about “private maternal matters, including childhood vaccines and breastfeeding.”
Understandably, given that Frye-Mueller was a legislator, and the LRC works for legislators, the Senate removed her from the situation with a strong vote. But there was enough wiggle room and ambiguity that Frye-Mueller and her political allies went on the attack, spending the weekend trying to portray her victimhood, culminating with a “woe is me” “I don’t know what I did wrong” press conference in an attempt to garner sympathy from the public.
But what Mueller didn’t count on was the fact that after they redacted some materials, the Senate was willing to release the statement which started all of this, to the public’s horror. It’s horrifying and graphic. So much so that the squeamish Argus Leader Argus will give a hint to the crazy, but won’t print the bad parts.
After the discussion about the bill, Sen. Frye-Mueller asked the staffer about her baby and asked if the infant was vaccinated, according to the complaint. When the staffer answered yes, Frye-Mueller said vaccinations could cause issues such as Down syndrome or autism.
and..
Frye-Mueller then went on to tell the staffer, “he will die from those vaccines,” according to the complaint.
The discussion then moved from vaccines to breastfeeding, according to the complaint. The staffer said she was formula feeding her child that then led Frye-Mueller to give an explicit description of how to have milk come in.
Read the corporate sanitized version here.
So much for the Argus’ milquetoast account of the matter. Because it sanitizes the accusation, and strips it of any moral call for justice for the victim. Thankfully, the State Senate believes in open government, and lays it out there, warts and all:
After the discussion on the bill was finished, Senator Frye-Mueller asked, “how is baby?” I answered that he was doing well. Senator Frye-Mueller proceeded to ask, “did you vaccinate?”. I told her, “Yes.” Without allowing me to elaborate further, she proceeded to point her finger at me and aggressively say that this will cause him issues. She said my baby, “could get down syndrome, or autism.” She further went on to say that “he will die from those vaccines.”
She talked about the World Health Organization (WHO) and a video released by WHO that that confirmed that vaccinating babies is wrong and said that “we are guinea pigs for big pharma.” She further went on to say that God gives babies immunity and that, “you are taking away God’s gift of immunity from your son.”. During this time, she then asked if I was breastfeeding my baby. I told her “No, I am formula feeding, but I wish I could have.”
I was told by Senator Frye-Mueller that my husband could “suck on my breasts” to get milk to come in. She indicated, “a good time for that is at night.” She proceeded to provide hand gestures to her chest area and motion to her husband to see if he agreed. He smiled and nodded.
Senator Frye-Mueller preceded to get even more emotional and aggressive with me. She continued to point her finger at me with tears in her eyes saying repeatedly, “you can’t vaccinate your child anymore.” She knew of a set of twins that got vaccinated and “came out completely different”. She asked, “do you want that to happen to your son?”
Read the redacted employee statement here.
According to an account, the Legislative employee and new mother was subjected to a barrage of the worst, long-debunked pile of vaccination crazy from the internet, directed at her from a superior as if it was gospel, intimating she might be killing her child.
And far, far worse, she starts going on about breastfeeding in a tremendously inappropriate way forced on her by a work superior, with the work superior’s husband leering.
This wasn’t advice from one mother to another. The level of abuse to the employee is unlike anything ever heard in the halls of the legislature, and done so with the attendance and tacit approval of Frye Mueller’s husband for all of it.
I was in the censure court when the charges were originally announced. Now that the details are out, if the Senate chose to expel her, I’m easily good with that. South Dakota would be far better off getting rid of Frye-Mueller. And at this point, with the information out, I’m disappointed that the Senate has so far left Mueller’s husband untouched for his role in this matter.
Given his part in this event, the Senate needs to ban JFM’s husband, Mike Mueller, from legislative offices, committee rooms, and keep him away from the employees given the account from the employee making the complaint.
ELK POINT, SD: Members of the Union County Republican Party gathered last week to elect their Executive Board in Elk Point. Officers elected were Dan Lederman of Dakota Dunes for County Chair, Mary Shuey of Wynstone for County Vice Chair, Mike Dailey of Jefferson for County GOP Treasurer, Jerry Miller of Burbank for County GOP Secretary and Dirk and Bonnie Lohry of McCook Lake for State Committeeman and State Committeewoman.