Submission declined on 5 July 2026 by Bkissin (talk). This draft's references do not show that the person meets Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion for people. The draft requires multiple published secondary sources that: provide significant coverage: discuss the person in detail, not brief mentions or interviews lacking independent analysis; are reliable: from reputable outlets with editorial oversight; are independent: not connected to the person, such as interviews, press releases, the subject's own website, or sponsored content. Please add references that meet all three of these criteria. If none exist, the subject is not yet suitable for Wikipedia. If you would like to continue working on the submission, click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window. If you have not resolved the issues listed above, your draft will be declined again and potentially deleted. If you need extra help, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. Please do not remove reviewer comments or this notice until the submission is accepted. Where to get help If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews. If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed. How to improve a draft Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia. Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article. Improving your odds of a speedy review To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags. Add tags to your draft Editor resources Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs Declined by Bkissin 38 days ago. Last edited by CommonsDelinker 12 days ago. Reviewer: Inform author. Resubmit Please note that if the issues are not fixed, the draft will be declined again.

Jacob Morris Engels (born March 20, 1992) is an American political operative, conservative activist, investigative journalist, and online publisher. He is known for his work in Florida Republican politics, his association with political consultant Roger Stone, anti-Islamic activism, and his advocacy for parental rights in education.

Engels was raised in east Orlando, Florida, and is a member of one of the founding families of Avalon Park, a planned community in the area.^[1] A graduate of Timber Creek High School in Orlando, Engels attended Valencia College and the University of Central Florida and has also publicly stated that he received schooling at Everest Collegiate Academy in Clarkson, Michigan.^[2] Everest Collegiate Academy is a traditional Roman Catholic K-12 school that is part of the Legionaries of Christ, a Regnum Christi centric sect of the Catholic faith often partnered with Opus Dei.^[3] Engels began his involvement in Republican politics during his teenage years, serving as chairman of the Florida Federation of Teenage Republicans and holding leadership positions in the the Florida Federation of College Republicans.^[4]

Engels began his professional political career working for former Congresswoman Sandy Adams as a media consultant and political operative in 2010, and later served as Adam's Director of New Media during the Representative's 2012 re-election campaign.^[5] During this period, he developed a reputation for aggressive advocacy for his clients, while also contracting with other political candidates, elected officials and political action committees, including Doug Guetzloe's Axe the Tax.^[6] Engels founded the East Orlando Post in 2013, a local news publication. His formation of the East Orlando Post was followed by the debut of the Seminole County Post.^[7] He later expanded his media presence by merging both publications and founding the Central Florida Post, where he continues to serve as publishing Editor.^[8] Engels has described his journalism as focusing on "stories that other news outlets neglect or willingly hide to curry favor among the political and special interests."^[9] He has been featured and republished in national outlets including Politico, InfoWars, MSNBC, the Orlando Sentinel, The New York Times, the Daily Mail, the Associated Press, People Magazine, ABC, and Fox News.^{[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]} In August 2015, Engels published an investigative report revealing that Orange County State Attorney Jeff Ashton, a high-profile prosecutor known for the Casey Anthony trial, had used the extramarital dating website Ashley Madison.^[17] The reporting prompted Ashton to hold a press conference where he admitted to accessing the site.^[18] Ashton would later lose re-election.^[19]

During the 2016 election cycle, Engels reported on speculation that Jackie Siegel, known as the "Queen of Versailles," was considering entering Florida politics, publishing coverage that explored the possibility of a gubernatorial campaign before she ultimately declined to run. Engels maintained a professional relationship with Siegel, covering her activities and conducting interviews following the success of the documentary The Queen of Versailles.^[20] In 2016, Engels was involved in a widely publicized altercation with Ray Valdes outside a political event after questioning him about nepotism allegations; police subsequently sought battery, theft, and criminal mischief charges against Valdes.^{[21] [22]} While serving as Editor of the Central Florida Post, Engels broke a story involving Rollins College professor Areej Zufari after conservative student Marshall Polston alleged he had been failed in her course due to his political views.^[23] Engel's coverage of the story became widely circulated internationally and conservative pundits and anchors decried the Zufari as a radical Islamist.^[24] Engel's reporting uncovered Zufari served as a high level official within Florida's Council on American–Islamic Relations and maintained long-standing connections to an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1992 World Trade Center Bombing.^[25] Following widespread protests and media attention, Polston was reinstated, and Zufari was later dismissed by the college.^[26]

Engels became widely known for his close association with Roger Stone, which began in late 2011, a longtime Republican political consultant and confidant to President Donald J. Trump. Media outlets described Engels as Stone's "protégé" and "mini-me," reflecting their close working relationship.^[27] During the 2018 Florida gubernatorial primary, Engels provided extensive coverage of the race between then Congressman Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.^[28] His reporting highlighted the influence of corporate interests in Florida politics, documenting how special interest groups funded attack ads against DeSantis.^[29] Engels appeared alongside Stone on InfoWars to discuss the race, establishing himself as a vocal supporter of conservative candidates challenging establishment Republicans.^[30] During the general election campaign between Ron DeSantis and former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, Engels exposed the Democrats Youth Outreach Director for past posts on Twitter, including calling for the assassination of President Trump and attacks on voters who elected the then businessman to the office of President in 2016, and disrupted campaign stops during Gillum's 2018 run, including an October 2018 rally where he claimed he was confronted and "attacked" by Gillum supporters, as reported by Newsweek.^{[31] [32]} Engels organized and led protests outside the Broward County Supervisor of Elections office, frequently using a megaphone to taunt election officials and Gillum supporters.^{[33] [34] [35]} In 2018, Mother Jones reported that political consulting firms affiliated with Engels and InfoWars contributor Millie Weaver received payments from several Republican campaigns for media and consulting services during the election cycle.^[36] Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, a major figure in alternative right wing media, has publicly credited Engels with saving Florida and electing Governor Ron DeSantis.

Engels emerged as a prominent defender of Roger Stone during his prosecution by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Following Stone's January 2019 pre-dawn FBI arrest, Engels criticized the use of 29 armed agents for a non-violent process crime and questioned CNN's advance presence at the scene.^{[37] [38]}He later published investigative reporting alleging that CNN had obtained sealed court documents before Stone's arrest, citing metadata showing the network's copy of the indictment had been saved two days before its official unsealing.^{[39] [40]} Engels also received national media attention after participating in an on-air discussion with Alex Jones about the identity of a prospective juror, and in February 2019 attended Stone's gag order hearing in Washington, D.C., where he was identified as one of Stone's allies assisting with social media and communications while continuing to advocate on Stone's behalf.^[41] During the 2020 Florida State Senate campaign of current Florida Senate President Jason Brodeur, Engels became the subject of a Democratic attack advertisement that sought to portray Brodeur as connected to controversial figures through his past political consulting relationship with Engels, where he had paid Engels and Engels connected companies nearly $40,000.^[42]

In March 2020, Engels published an exclusive report on former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum and involvement in a drug-related incident at a Miami Beach hotel.^{[43] [44]} Working with GOP congressional candidate Enrique Tarrio, Engels obtained and published photographic evidence that contradicted Gillum's initial claims about the incident.^[45]

In October 2021, Engels attended an Orange County Public Schools board meeting where he read passages from the book Gender Queer—which was available in school libraries—to demonstrate the content being made accessible to children. When board members deemed his reading "inappropriate" and had him removed by police, the incident went viral and sparked statewide discussion about age-appropriate materials in public schools.^{[46] [47] [48]} Engels' actions helped galvanize the parental rights movement in Florida and contributed to legislative efforts regarding educational materials. Orange County School Board member Alicia Farrant thanked Engels at a bill signing with Governor Ron DeSantis which Engels posted on Twitter.^[49] In July 2022, Engels conducted investigative reporting on Raymond "Ray" Forbess, a candidate for Clay County, Florida Judge.^[50] Using archival tools, Engels uncovered that Forbess's law firm had built a practice around defending individuals accused of sex crimes.^[51] The firm had removed these case studies from their website during the campaignm according to Engels' reporting, and raised questions about judicial candidates' backgrounds and their fitness to serve.^[52]

Engels was present in Washington, D.C., during the January 6 United States Capitol attack, accompanying Stone for events related to election integrity advocacy. Engels was reportedly in a hotel room and not at the Capitol during the events of that day.^{[53] [54]} In November 2022, the Orlando Sentinel reported that federal investigators had questioned Engels as a witness during the broader January 6 investigation because of his political associations, although he was not accused of participating in the attack or charged with any crime.^[55] The New York Times reported that Engels had previously interacted with members of the Proud Boys during Florida political events but noted he was not charged in connection with the Capitol attack.^{[56] [57]}

Engels engaged in a years-long public discourse with former U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy, criticizing her through his reporting and political commentary.^[58] Engels frequently confronted Murphy with questions regarding her political positions and published the 2020 book Saigon Stephanie Murphy: The Truth about America's Moderate.^{[59] [60]} Progressive activists and Engels’ mentor, Trump advisor and longtime friend Roger Stone, both agreed that Engels coverage of Congresswoman Murphy forced her early retirement from the United States Congress in 2022.^[61] Engels has appeared as himself in multiple documentaries, including the El Ride Productions 2020 film about propaganda and media sensationalism, titled Sensational, alongside Alex Jones and Roger Stone.^[62] He has also been featured in the 2023 political documentary A Storm Foretold, which followed Roger Stone and featured members of Stone's media and political circle and was involved in promoting the project prior to its release. Engels has also taken part in non-political film roles, including Life in Darkness, Nightglaze, and Babies, according to IMDB.^[63]

In 2026, Engels publicly parted ways with Stone, establishing himself as an independent political consultant and launching "Shutdown the Showdown," a campaign protesting the Florida Republican Party's handling of the 2026 gubernatorial primary. The campaign targeted the party's "Sunshine State Showdown" event and criticized what Engels characterized as the premature elevation of Congressman Byron Donalds as the frontrunner, advocating for greater transparency in the primary process.^[64] In June of 2026, Engels published allegations of improper sexually charged text messages between Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters, whom Engels has known for 15 years, including allegations of a hush money payment made to Engels without notice from Gruters ally and Florida political consultant Max Goodman.^[65] Engels currently serves as an advisor for political action committees, including Grifter Olympics PAC, and operates Command Station Consulting, a political consulting firm.^{[66] [67]} He has worked as a campaign advisor and media consultant for numerous political campaigns in Florida. Engels also spearheaded and organized the now suspended 2028 presidential exploratory campaign for Greg Bovino, working directly with Bovino and his team to highlight his accomplishments and re-introduce immigration as a mainstream GOP focus. His efforts were first reported by the Daily Beast, as well as NewsNation.^[68]

Engels has reported on alleged methamphetamine use within Roger Stone's political circle.^[69] In 2025, he departed to pursue independent political consulting, founding Command Station Consulting.^{[70] [71]}

In May 2026, Engels was arrested in Wisconsin on charges including felony drug possession and several misdemeanor offenses while conducting investigative work related to alleged sex-trafficking cases.^{[72] [73]} According to police reports, six officers restrained him during the arrest. The reports further state that Engels repeatedly shouted profanities and insults, including the words "motherfucker" and "queer," and used the phrase "double-jointed pussy," an expression that later became closely associated with his public commentary, particularly in reference to President Donald J. Trump's Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles.^[74]

Following the arrest, Engels has maintained his innocence, asserting that the incident resulted from a misunderstanding and was part of a politically motivated effort to target him. He has also stated that he is sober, and court records indicate that he has remained in compliance with the conditions of his pretrial release.

Engels has said that he was raised and confirmed a Roman Catholic, and claimed to have recently renewed his faith.^[75]