Jeff Davis County Officials Pose for Smear Site While It Reveals More About Them Than Their Target

The masks are off in Jeff Davis County.

County Judge Curtis Evans and Justice of the Peace Mary Ann Luedecke are now openly participating in a smear campaign against Big Bend Times publisher David Flash—posing for photos and granting insider access to an anonymous website designed to spread libel, deflect scrutiny, and discredit public-interest journalism.

The site, BigBendTimes.org, was built to imitate Big Bend Times in name alone—but its purpose is clear: to attack Flash, mock his reporting, and smear any effort to hold local officials accountable. It publishes obsessively long, rambling hit pieces that recycle personal insults, misrepresent facts, and dive into laughably niche defenses of county spending.

In one such post, JP Luedecke is shown smiling next to the very county truck Flash has reported on. The article goes out of its way to defend the vehicle—not by explaining why a justice of the peace has a take-home truck at all (which is rare across Texas), but by fixating on irrelevant technical details: “a standard radio,” “a modest light bar,” and a clarification that the radio “cannot be considered advanced” because the county’s system hasn’t been upgraded.

Who talks like that? Who cares about that level of equipment detail? Only someone inside government, trying to justify a purchase.

The site even confirms that the photo was “taken with permission”—a quiet but damning admission that Luedecke knew exactly where the photo would appear and approved its use. She participated in the smear campaign willingly. So did Judge Evans, who also appears in photos used to give the site credibility it hasn’t earned.

This is complicity.

This isn’t a rogue blogger with a bad opinion—it’s a county-backed retaliation effort. A fake news outlet using county-approved access to attack the reporter asking uncomfortable questions.

And when Big Bend Times reported that a community member had contacted us with allegations about a known predator—including video and a 911 call—the site mocked us for not having more details. But the story wasn’t about the individual. It was about the fact that we requested information from the sheriff’s office and received nothing.

No callback. No statement. No engagement.

That is the story.

A resident raised a serious concern. Big Bend Times followed up. Law enforcement refused to respond. That’s the problem—not the absence of a viral mugshot. And instead of addressing that basic failure of public service, the county appears to have helped launch an anonymous blog to mock the journalist who asked the question.

Jeff Davis County law enforcement doesn’t serve the public. They don’t provide transparency. They don’t answer questions.

They retaliate.

They stonewall open records requests, then criticize journalists for not having information they themselves refuse to release. They withhold public data, then anonymously accuse reporters of making things up. They smile for propaganda while cutting off access to facts.

It’s textbook authoritarian behavior—just with dusty boots and government paychecks.

The site’s anonymous author repeatedly calls Flash “a clickbait grifter,” “a guy with an ax to grind,” “a wannabe constitutional scholar,” and “mentally unstable.” They dig into which side of the road someone pulled over on. They talk about “green grass,” “modest sirens,” and park-host volunteer schedules. They even speculate—grotesquely—on whether Flash will kill himself for publicity.

This isn’t reporting. This is projection. And it’s coordinated.

No outsider would have this much operational detail on county equipment, sheriff office policies, or JP scheduling.

No anonymous writer just happens to get permissioned portraits of elected officials unless the officials are in on it.

And no ethical official smiles for the camera while their allies spread anonymous filth attacking the free press.

Luedecke and Evans don’t just know who’s behind the site. They’re working with them. They’re giving them access. They’re lending their likeness to propaganda meant to harass and discredit a journalist asking questions they’d rather ignore.

And while they do it, the site hilariously slaps copyright notices all over their amateur photos—pictures of public officials taken at public events, posted on an anonymous smear blog. It’s laughable. The authors want to hide in the shadows while pretending they’re suddenly legal experts in intellectual property law.

Big Bend Times is under no obligation to play along.

Screenshots of the site, its posts, and its propaganda are being shared under fair use—for the purpose of commentary, criticism, and public accountability. We welcome any challenge to that in court.

In fact, we’d love for the anonymous author to come forward and try.

Because here’s the truth: they can’t sue us without revealing who they are. And they won’t reveal who they are—because they’re public employees misusing government resources to run a smear campaign.

They want the power to attack others with impunity and the cowardice to hide from the consequences.

Not only is that unethical—it may be unlawful.

We’ll continue reporting on these officials, their misconduct, and their complicity in this smear operation. And we’ll keep publishing the screenshots—every petty insult, every fake “fact check,” every photo op taken with a wink and a nod.

Let the record show: BigBendTimes.org wasn’t created to protect this community. It was created to protect the people in power from the people asking questions.

And we’re not stopping.