Natalie Cline braces to defend herself, decries harassment by Utah Board of Education

BLUFFDALE — The Utah Board of Education member under fire for seemingly taking aim at a girls high school basketball player in a Facebook post is lashing out at the board as she prepares to defend herself.

Natalie Cline, R-Bluffdale, caused a firestorm last week when she posted a screenshot to her Facebook page of another social media post promoting an area girls basketball team’s upcoming game, including an image that showed two members of the team. One of the members of the team, a girl, has been accused of being a boy, according to her parents. Critics accused Cline of using her post, which has since been deleted, to suggest the player is transgender or otherwise cast aspersions on her.

Cline’s claims against the board

Many leaders have called for Cline’s resignation or impeachment as a result, and in a new Facebook post early Wednesday morning, Cline lashed back. She decried the Utah Board of Education moves to review her case and possibly sanction her in some way. The board is to meet in a closed session Wednesday afternoon and the focus is Cline and complaints levied against her, according to Cline.

“I would like to participate in the process and defend myself. However, the @utboardofed is moving so quickly that they are making it impossible for me to read through all the materials they have provided, gather evidence, draft a response, and prepare for a hearing,” Cline said in her post, her first public comment since her Facebook apology for the prior controversial post. “Hardened criminals get better due process than I am being provided. Is a decision by the Board legitimate if you don’t provide the accused with proper due process rights?”

In an email sent Tuesday by Cline to fellow school board members James Moss, Jennie Earl and Molly Hart — included as an image attached to Cline’s new Facebook post — she further blasted the board. She also suggested the board moves in her case might amount to “election interference” as she vies for reelection this cycle to her school board seat.

“Since I took office in 2021, (the Utah State Board of Education) has harassed me on multiple occasions for my social media posts in what appears to be a concerted effort to destroy my reputation with my voters. This latest action is no different except that USBE is moving faster than usual and is acting within 60 days of my primary election at the Salt Lake County’s GOP convention of April 13, 2024,” she wrote.

Cline, a conservative who has previously expressed unease with LGBTQ-themed materials and discussions in schools, faces a challenge from Republican Amanda Bollinger in the race for the District 9 school board seat. Democrat Will Shiflett is also running.

Cline’s new Facebook post suggests efforts are afoot to counter the heavy criticism that has been lobbed her way. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, among many others, issued a critical statement taking aim at Cline after news spread of her initial Facebook post. “The last thing our children need is an elected official harassing them on social media,” the statement said.

Cline’s new post, which is public, mustered positive reaction from many, as well as agreement from some supporters that she may be the victim of harassment and election interference.

“This kind of overreaction against those who are fighting against evil the hardest is getting worse. It is all about trying to shut people up from protecting children or our rights. It’s wrong! Keep fight evil Natalie! I hope the majority can see what’s really happening!” said one poster.

Aside from blasting the board of education in her new Facebook post, Cline drew from state ethics guidelines in questioning potential actions against her by the body.

“Has the USBE analyzed whether this investigation is election interference? Has the USBE considered whether voters see any action against me at this time (within 60 days of the Salt Lake County GOP convention) as the USBE endorsing my opponent in the primary race? Can you send me your legal analysis of this issue?” Cline wrote in her message to the board.

UPDATE: Natalie Cline has spoken out, saying the @UTBoardofEd needs to consider whether their executive session today amounts to "election interference" because her GOP convention is in less than 60 days.
She says she wants to defend herself but argued this is moving too fast. https://t.co/0yQPF52wtc pic.twitter.com/gDz8dgatst

— Lindsay Aerts (@LindsayOnAir) February 14, 2024

Since the initial Facebook post about the girls basketball team that caused the firestorm — one of several controversies involving Cline over the years — she has been denounced by many. The Granite School District school board voted 6-1 last Friday in favor of a resolution condemning Cline, the Midvale mayor and City Council called for her resignation and officials in other locales and school districts have been weighing action.

In her initial response to the controversy on Feb. 7, after the controversial post was deleted, Cline apologized to the basketball team member, who was the apparent focus of the post, and her family. She didn’t explain why she made the post but noted, “(W)e live in strange times” and expounded on transgenderism and high school girls athletics.

“Sadly, our good faith efforts to be accepting of differences has, at times, been taken advantage of causing a loss of trust, which leads to suspicion about girls who are more buff than most. This is a sad consequence of the trans movement being foisted upon us, which puts us all in a difficult spot. Nobody wants to question if a kid is the gender they say they are. We want to protect children, not hurt them. We want to trust while also protecting the truth,” Cline wrote.

The Board responds

On Wednesday afternoon, the USBE responded to Cline’s claims of election interference, saying that the law she cites does not apply to her.

“The law cited by Ms. Cline, UCA 63A-14 does not apply to members of the Board of Education. Under UCA 63A-14-102(3), the Executive branch elected officials to which the law applies include the Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, State Auditor, and State Treasurer,” the board’s statement said.

The board said even if the law did apply to her, the date that Cline cited was inaccurate.

According to the board, the Utah Republican Party State Nominating Convention and Salt Lake County Nominating Convention are not elections under the Utah Code.

UCA 20A-1-102(19) defines “election” as “a regular general election, a municipal general election, a statewide special election, a local special election, a regular primary election, a municipal primary election, and a special district election.” Under UCA 20A-1-102(63) a “regular primary election means the election, held on the date specified in Section 20A-1-201.5.” UCA 20A-1-201.5 states: “The regular primary election shall be held throughout the state on the fourth Tuesday of June each even numbered year . . .” Utah’s Regular Primary Election is June 25, 2024 which is 132 days from today. – USBE statement to media

The board said if the Salt Lake County Nominating Convention was a primary election, the complaints were filed on Feb. 7, not on Wednesday as Cline suggested.

Contributing: Michael Houck, KSL TV