By TODD LINDLEY
Protecting the interests of constituents has always been a platitude of political campaigns, with candidates weaving messaging in a way to portray themselves as courageous and heroic for the honor of being elevated to a public office. However, votes matter more than rhetoric. Actions determine whether those platitudes have any substance behind them.
The new administration is restoring peace and liberty to the American people that the old regime had denied. Heroes of all types have answered the call to public service. But what about those who helped pave the way for the change the country is now experiencing? Unsung heroes like Former Sen. Lora Reinbold (R-Eagle River).
Just before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the district she previously represented was home to more than 50% of the military personnel in the state of Alaska. As chair of the Judiciary Committee, she scrutinized Covid policies and mandates to prevent the infringement of violations of civil rights under the guise of public health. Unfortunately, the hearings she arranged and her position on the mandates made her the target of an ethics complaint and ire from Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Reinbold has been put upon by the very legal system that is supposed to ensure every American gets a fair shake. She has endured stunning and shameful persecution. It is time to make it right and time for her story to be told.
At a Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 27, 2021, then-chair Reinbold invited testimony from Alaska Health and Human Services Commissioner Adam Crum and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration alongside Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who is now the National Institute of Health Director. Commissioner Crum outlined the effort that HHS and the Dunleavy administration put forward in the form of mandates, health orders, and actions, including the extension of the emergency declaration. Dr. Kulldorff expressed an opposing argument to lockdowns and health mandate policies and was critical of the public health measures, which did not consider the long-term negative effects of the mandates.
Things came to a head on Feb. 18, 2021, when Dunleavy issued a blistering letter to Reinbold to stop spreading misinformation to the public about the COVID-19 mandates as Judiciary chair. In a controversial move, the governor blocked all executive branch state resources to her office and refused to respond to the Senate Judiciary Committee:
“This letter serves as notice that all officials and staff, employed and serving the State of Alaska’s Executive Branch of government, will not be responding, or participating, in any matter that pertains to yourself, your office, or, currently, in your capacity as the chair of a committee.
“I will not continue to subject the public resources of the State of Alaska to the mockery of a charade, disguised as public purpose.”
This letter came at a time when the governor’s disaster declarations were being extended, and the Legislature continued the debate on programs and the necessity of response to the pandemic. HB76 became the conduit by which the state of the emergency would move from a disaster to a public health emergency and maintain the flow of federal funding to support response efforts, mainly mass vaccination of the population.
Then, on April 19, 2021, the Senate voted 17-1 to remove her from the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
To make matters worse, Reinbold was banned from Alaska Airlines that same month for allegedly not complying with its mask policy, just three days before the bill was to be voted on in the Senate chambers. Reinbold later sued the airlines, and the case is now before the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On April 30, 2021, Dunleavy signed a proclamation ending the Disaster Declaration and signed HB76 into law. Following that, Commissioner Crum issued a Public Health Emergency, allowing for the procurement and continuation of services with federal funds. That same day, Reinbold was sued for blocking an internet troll for two and half weeks from commenting on her Facebook page. That case is now before the Alaska Supreme Court.
The damage has already been done.
Reinbold did not seek re-election and instead defended herself in court in McDow v. Reinbold. She sued Dunleavy for malice and defamation and took the airline head-on. Reinbold wants to clear her name and seek due process for the actions taken against her. But it’s bigger than her. Businesses and doctors around the country have been put in a similar position. Far too many people faced punitive actions for challenging the previous administration and, by extension, the state government agencies’ pandemic mandates and vaccination programs.
On Feb. 18, now former Sen. Reinbold stood before the Alaska Supreme Court to defend herself against the executive branch and those of the Select Committee on Legislative Ethics related to the malicious letter and illegitimate ethics complaint. The counsel for the Ethics Committee and the State of Alaska had previously been granted a motion to be dismissed by Judge Thomas Matthews. Reinbold challenged the ruling. She testified to the high court that the Ethics Committee circumvented protections provided in the ethics laws and denied her statutory due process.
While Reinbold has spent four years defending her actions in Alaskan courts, on April 23, 2025, a pivotal and long overdue apology by the Department of Defense was issued to the service members who were kicked out of the military for refusing to take the COVID vaccines. Moreover, the White House has publicized facts surrounding the pandemic after a long investigation by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Most notable of the attestations are those related to COVID-19 misinformation, the subject of action against Reinbold:
“[T]he Biden Administration resorted to ‘outright censorship — coercing and colluding with the world’s largest social media companies to censor all COVID-19-related dissent.'”
On May 5, President Donald Trump, alongside NIH Director Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , signed an executive order banning “gain-of-function” research. This method of research studied the spillover potential of the virus and led to the development of the COVID-19 vaccines.
Reinbold was on the front lines against the coercive power that the tech and pharma companies had over public institutions and media. It cost her dearly. But there is hope of victory on the horizon. One thing is clear: The citizens of Alaska know that someone was in their corner when it mattered — when the hardest thing to do was the right thing.
Todd Lindley is on the board of Alaska Gold Communications, the parent company of Must Read Alaska.
