As the Josh Duggar child pornography case begins to play out and more information becomes available, critics and followers remember the statement released by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar in November 2019.
Back then, reports of a raid by Homeland Security were circulating, but details weren’t clear. In fact, shortly after it was made public, everything seemingly disappeared from the spotlight.
Initially, there was a lot of speculation as to what the raid couple possibly be about. It involved the car lot Jim Bob Duggar had Josh Duggar running, and following the news of the raid, the lot was shuttered and closed for good. Several of the Duggar boys worked there, including Joseph and Josiah Duggar.
At the time, Josh was dealing with a real estate fraud lawsuit and many believed that the raid might be in connection to that. It turns out that was not the case.
What did Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar say in 2019?
Last week, Josh Duggar was arrested and held at the Washington County Detention Center. He pled not guilty to the two counts he was indicted on, and just yesterday, he was granted bail.
The indictment came from an investigation that happened in 2019, which is what Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar denied even happened at the time.
While it’s true that their home was not raided, the car lot was. They also said that a family member was not under investigation “to the best of our knowledge” when, in fact, Josh was revealed to be the person of interest.
Their full statement said, “We were shocked to see a news report today state that our home was raided by federal law enforcement agencies. This is not true. To the best of our knowledge, it’s also not true that any member of our family is the target of any investigation of any kind. Living a life in the public’s eye has taught us that it is best not to reply to every rumor and piece of ‘fake news’ that is circulated online. It would be a full-time job if we attempted to do so. However, because of tonight’s media coverage we thought it is important to address this rumor with you. Thank you for the love and support that we can always count on in you our fans and friends.”
How much did Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar know?
Based on reports that emerged during Josh Duggar’s arrest last week, Jim Bob Duggar allegedly called the siblings to reveal that their oldest brother would be arrested and asked them to remain silent on the matter.
The parents set up the third-party custodians, Lacount and Maria Reber, for Josh. He will be released into their custody as he awaits his trial on the two counts he faces.
As more details are revealed, some fans and critics are worried that Counting On will be canceled. That has not happened yet, but based on what happened in 2015, it isn’t a huge leap to connect the two.
Also, Derick Dillard has been taking to social media since the news broke. He insinuated that some of the other siblings might be wanting to leave as he and Jill Duggar did, saying they didn’t know the same things he and Jill did when they knew them.
Counting On is currently on hiatus.