Does South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem have the power to mute the consequences of the Government Accountability Board as it seeks “appropriate action” in a nepotism case?
We last left South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in this post, Associated Press News: Ethics board finds SD Gov. Noem may have ‘engaged in misconduct’:
Back in 2021, Stephen Groves reported for the Associated Press, As daughter sought state license, Noem summoned agency head. Groves reported her spokester stated:
“The Associated Press is disparaging the Governor’s daughter in order to attack the Governor politically – no wonder Americans’ trust in the media is at an all-time low,” spokesman Ian Fury said.
Still, government ethics experts who reviewed the series of events at the AP’s request said Noem’s decision to include her daughter in the meeting created a conflict of interest regardless of what was discussed.
Apparently, Groves was on to something in tracking down the story.
Reporting for the Associated Press on Monday, August 22, 2022 Groves now reports in :Ethics board: SD Gov. Noem may have ‘engaged in misconduct’:
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A South Dakota ethics board on Monday said it found sufficient information that Gov. Kristi Noem may have “engaged in misconduct” when she intervened in her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license, and it referred a separate complaint over her state airplane use to the state’s attorney general for investigation.
The three retired judges on the Government Accountability Board determined that “appropriate action” could be taken against Noem for her role in her daughter’s appraiser licensure, though it didn’t specify the action.
The board’s moves potentially escalate the ramifications of investigations into Noem. The Republican governor faces reelection this year and has also positioned herself as an aspirant to the White House in 2024. She is under scrutiny from the board after Jason Ravnsborg, the state’s former Republican attorney general, filed complaints that stemmed from media reports on Noem’s actions in office. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Groves reports in SD Gov. Kristi Noem weighs response to ethics complaints:
A South Dakota ethics board’s finding that Gov. Kristi Noem may have engaged in misconduct by intervening in her daughter’s application for a real estate appraiser license isn’t likely the last word on the matter. But exactly how much more comes out on the episode may be up to the Republican governor herself.
The state’s Government Accountability Board appears to be letting Noem decide whether to defend herself in a public hearing or simply accept an “appropriate action” that the board hasn’t detailed. It presents Noem with a choice: Stick to her defense that she has done nothing wrong and fight the allegations in a public hearing or let the matter quietly die while accepting the board’s action.
How Noem handles the matter may not dent her prospects for reelection this year in a race where she’s heavily favored to win a second term. But it may be important down the road for a politician who has methodically positioned herself to move up in national politics, including for a potential 2024 presidential run.
So far, Noem has chosen to fight — at least in the public sphere. Her reelection campaign spokesman, Ian Fury, lashed out at the board after it moved against her Monday, calling the board’s action “illegal” and portraying the complaints against her as the work of an embittered political enemy. They were filed last year by Jason Ravnsborg, the former Republican attorney general, as he faced pressure from Noem to resign after he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in 2020.
But neither her office nor her campaign has answered questions on whether she will fight the allegations through a contested case hearing before the board, which was created in 2017 and has never handled a case like Noem’s. Such a proceeding would allow the board’s three retired judges to publicly scrutinize how she took a hands-on role in a state agency while it was evaluating her daughter’s application for an appraiser’s license. . . .
Cory Allan Heidelberger shares his take in Government Accountability Board Letting Noem Decide Its Action on Nepotism Complaint? at Dakota Free Press. Check it out.
Meanwhile, there's more. Dakota News Now's Austin Goss reports in Bipartisan group of lawmakers ask AG Vargo to recuse himself from Noem investigation:
A group of bipartisan South Dakota state lawmakers are asking Attorney General Mark Vargo to recuse himself from an investigation into whether Gov. Kristi Noem misused the state airplane.
Three lawmakers, including Noem’s Democratic gubernatorial opponent Jamie Smith (D, Sioux Falls) have asked Vargo to allow for a special prosecutor to investigate Noem’s potential abuse of the state airplane, which was referred back to his office Monday by the Government Accountability Board (GAB).
“I am asking that we have a special prosecutor assigned this,” Smith said during an interview with Dakota News Now/KOTA Territory. “As honorable as the appointed Attorney General is, this puts him in a bad spot, there is going to be an impropriety because he was appointed by the current governor who is being investigated.”
Noem appointed Vargo in June after former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg was impeached over his role in a fatal crash where he struck and killed a pedestrian. Both complaints that the Government Accountability Board considered were filed originally by Ravnsborg.
Smith was joined in his calls for a special prosecutor by current Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch (R, Glenham) and Rep. Scott Odenbach (R, Spearfish). . .
Related posts:
- Associated Press News: Ethics board finds SD Gov. Noem may have ‘engaged in misconduct’
- Jamie Smith will focus on South Dakota and shake hands with your dog while he's at it
- South Dakota ethics: Will lawmakers resolve Governor Noem's closed-door meeting with daughter violated public trust?
- SD legislature's Government Operations & Audit Committee summons two for Noem ethics inquiry
Image: Swiped from Twitter.
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