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Ex-Florida GOP party chair cleared in sexual assault probe, but could still face voyeurism charges
Christian Ziegler, the former chair of the Florida Republican Party, will not face sexual assault charges, authorities said Friday, but investigators still determined there is enough evidence to recommend felony video voyeurism charges against him.
Ziegler was removed from his post earlier this month after a woman alleged that he had sexually assaulted her at her Sarasota, Florida, home.
The Sarasota Police Department reported Friday that the “sexual encounter” between Ziegler and the alleged victim, which took place on Oct. 2 of last year, was recorded on Ziegler’s cell phone.
Based on the “video evidence,” investigators determined the encounter “was likely consensual,” police said in a news release, and found “no probable cause to charge Ziegler with sexual battery.”
However, the woman told police she “was unaware” that Ziegler had recorded the sexual encounter, and that it was done without her consent. As a result, on Friday police filed a probable cause affidavit with the Florida State Attorney’s Office recommending Ziegler be charged with felony voyeurism.
As part of their investigation, detectives conducted nearly a dozen interviews and reviewed several hours of surveillance footage.
The sexual assault allegations against Ziegler surfaced in November, and he was suspended from his position in December before being voted out earlier this month. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and other Republican leaders had called on Ziegler to step down, according to the Associated Press.
In October, the Florida Trident, a nonprofit organization focusing on government accountability, reported that a woman told the Sarasota police that she, Ziegler and Ziegler’s wife, Bridget Ziegler, have been involved in a three-year-long three-way sexual relationship. The Trident, citing sources close to the investigation, indicated that the events being investigated allegedly took place while Christian Ziegler and the woman were alone at the woman’s home.
Bridget Ziegler is a co-founder of Moms for Liberty, a far-right group that identifies as a parental rights advocate and tries to elect right-wing candidates to school boards. The group opposes references to race or LGBTQ identity in the classroom, and has called for books on gender or sexuality to be removed from school libraries.
— Aaron Navarro contributed to this report.
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Taste-testing “Sandwiches of History” – CBS News
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“Sandwiches of History”: Resurrecting sandwich recipes that time forgot
Barry Enderwick is eating his way through history, one sandwich at a time. Every day from his home in San Jose, California, Enderwick posts a cooking video from a recipe that time forgot. From the 1905 British book “Salads, Sandwiches and Savouries,” Enderwick prepared the New York Sandwich.
The recipe called for 24 oysters, minced and mixed with mayonnaise, seasoned with lemon juice and pepper, and spread over buttered day-old French bread.
Rescuing recipes from the dustbin of history doesn’t always lead to culinary success. Sampling his New York Sandwich, Enderwick decried it as “a textural wasteland. No, thank you.” Into the trash bin it went!
But Enderwick’s efforts have yielded his own cookbook, a collection of some of the strangest – and sometimes unexpectedly delicious – historical recipes you’ve never heard of.
He even has a traveling stage show: “Sandwiches of History Live.”
From the condiments to the sliced bread, this former Netflix executive has become something of a sandwich celebrity. “You can put just about anything in-between two slices of bread,” he said. “And it’s portable! In general, a sandwich is pretty easy fare. And so, they just have universal appeal.”
Though the sandwich gets its name famously from the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, the earliest sandwich Enderwick has eaten dates from 200 B.C.E. China, a seared beef sandwich called Rou Jia Mo.
He declared it delicious. “Between the onions, and all those spices and the soy sauce … oh my God! Oh man, this is so good!”
While Elvis was famous for his peanut butter and banana concoction, Enderwick says there’s another celebrity who should be more famous for his sandwich: Gene Kelly, who he says had “the greatest man sandwich in the world, which was basically mashed potatoes on bread. And it was delicious.”
Whether it’s a peanut and sardine sandwich (from “Blondie’s Cook Book” from 1947), or the parmesian radish sandwich (from 1909’s “The Up-To-Date Sandwich Book”), Enderwick tries to get a taste of who we were – good or gross – one recipe at a time.
RECIPE: A sophisticated club sandwich
Blogger Barry Enderwick, of Sandwiches of History, offers “Sunday Morning” viewers a 1958 recipe for a club sandwich that, he says, shouldn’t work, but actually does, really well!
MORE: “Sunday Morning” 2024 “Food Issue” recipe index
Delicious menu suggestions from top chefs, cookbook authors, food writers, restaurateurs, and the editors of Food & Wine magazine.
For more info:
Story produced by Anthony Laudato. Editor: Chad Cardin.
CBS News
The cream of the crop in butter
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