We haven't posted about the impeachment of South Dakota Attorney General for the killing of Joseph Boever for some time, as the process has retreated beneath the legislature's rush toward the session's close.
Dakota Free Press has been more focused on the issue in recent posts such as Gosch, Smith Letting Politics Cloud Judgment on Impeachment,
The author, Cory Allan Heidelberger notes:
We can ignore the statements made by Governor Kristi Noem and her Secretary of Public Safety Craig Price entirely and still easily conclude that Jason Ravnsborg is unfit for office and should be impeached, convicted, and removed from office immediately.
What were those statements? At the Argus Leader, Joe Sneve reports in Text to Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg about man he hit said 'Well, at least the guy was a Democrat':
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is unfit to hold the office given his conduct related to a fatal crash in 2020, according to Public Safety Secretary Craig Price.
Price on Wednesday issued a formal letter urging a legislative committee vetting impeachment of the attorney general to consider all the facts before resolving its work this spring. . . .
The letter alleges that forensic investigators discovered text messages between Ravnsborg and members of his staff that were "disparaging and offensive statements regarding other law enforcement officers, judges, a Supreme Court justice, a legislator, prosecutors, staff members, a former attorney general, and a United States senator."
And less than 48 hours after the death of the crash victim, 55-year-old Joe Boever, Ravnsborg received a text message from someone identified in the letter as a political consultant that insensitively referred to Boever's political affiliations.
"Well, at least the guy was a Democrat," read the text message, according to Price's letter.
The investigation file Price refers to in the letter has never been made public. . . .
The family of Joe Boever told the Argus Leader that while disturbing, the revelations about disparaging text messages does not come as a surprise.
Nick Nemec, a cousin of Boever who serves a spokesperson for Boever's widow and mother, said in the days following the crash, the family received notification that Ravnsborg and his allies were attempting to cast Boever in a negative light. And in the lead up to the litigation stemming from the case, Ravnsborg's attorney prepared to argue that Boever suffered from mental health and addiction issues.
"So it doesn’t surprise me — the smart ass remarks about Joe Boever," Nemec said.
The political consultant's name isn't mentioned in the letter. The only consultant hired by Ravnsborg that we recall from our reading is Michael Deaver, who's cited as a spokesman by the New York Times in the August 2021 article South Dakota Attorney General Avoids Jail Time for Fatal Crash.
But Deaver showed up fairly quickly after the killing. At the Black Hills Pioneer, Tom Lawrence reported in Body of evidence Crash scene offers clues as family seeks to understand fatality on September 19, 2020 (Ravnsborg killed Boever on September 12, 2020):
Bormann, Ravnsborg’s chief of staff, is serving as the attorney general’s office’s spokesman.
“On the record, the Attorney General has been in and out of the office,” Bormann said an email to the Pioneer Thursday. “He continues to perform his duties and is always available to the office.”
Bormann said he was directing any future inquiries regarding Ravnsborg to Mike Deaver, a Salt Lake City public affairs consultant and strategist.
Deaver, a distant relative of Michael Deaver, a top aide and communications specialist for President Ronald Reagan, said he has met Ravnsborg over the years and they know each other casually.
He said this was “a tragic situation on both fronts” and that Ravnsborg is hurt “emotionally and spiritually.” But he said the attorney general was not physically injured and has not sought medical attention.
“He’s definitely sorry. He’s truly sorry,” Deaver said. “It’s a tragic accident.”
Deaver said he is acting as the spokesman to ensure state funds are not spent on representing the attorney general in what is a personal matter. . . .
Proximity isn't proof. Perhaps the text messages could be released to the public and we'd know who said these unsurprizing thinga.
Photo: The Taurus with which Ravnsborg killed Joseph Boever, who was walking on the shoulder of the road with a flashlight.
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