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| Photo Credit: AP. |
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem asked a state ethics board to dismiss a complaint against her without a public hearing and to seal off certain records, documents released Friday by the state’s Government Accountability Board show.
The
Republican governor, who is widely seen as eyeing a 2024 White House bid,
argued in an April motion that the state’s attorney general, a fellow
Republican who filed the complaint, was out for political retribution and
should be removed from the complaint. Noem had pushed former Attorney General
Jason Ravnsborg to resign and later for his impeachment over his involvement in
a fatal car crash.
The attorney
general’s complaint was sparked by a report from The Associated Press last year
that Noem had taken a hands-on role in a state agency. Shortly after the agency
moved to deny her daughter, Kassidy Peters, a real estate appraiser license in
July of 2020, Noem held a meeting with Peters and key decision-makers in her
licensure. Days after the meeting, Peters signed an agreement that gave her
another opportunity to meet the licensing requirements.
The South
Dakota Legislature’s audit committee, controlled by Republicans, unanimously
approved a report in May that found Noem’s daughter got preferential treatment.
The records
released Friday provided some new insight into an inquiry that the Government
Accountability Board has conducted mostly in secret for nearly a year. The
three retired judges who evaluated the ethics complaint unanimously found last
month that there was enough evidence for them to believe that Noem “engaged in
misconduct” by committing malfeasance and a conflict of interest.
The board
has said “appropriate action” would be taken against Noem, though it didn’t
specify the action. It’s also not clear whether Noem will request a contested
case hearing before the board to publicly defend herself against the
allegations.
Neither her
office nor her campaign said Friday whether she will proceed to a public
hearing. She has continued to publicly insist that she did nothing wrong.
The records
show that Noem, in a 29-page motion to the board, launched a range of arguments
for dismissing the complaint. Her attorney, Lisa Prostrollo, mocked Ravnsborg’s
allegations as “nonsensical,” a “political attack” and based on “far-fetched
conspiracy theories.”
The motion
argues Noem’s daughter joined the July 2020 meeting to provide her perspective
as an applicant and attempts to defend how that was appropriate while she was
facing a denial of her license. Government ethics experts have said the timing
and circumstances of the meeting created a clear conflict of interest for the
governor.
Noem’s
attorney argued that the Government Accountability Board did not have the
constitutional power to act against the governor or evaluate the complaint
against her. And the lawyer suggested that Ravnsborg, who had been forced from
office, be removed from the complaint and replaced with the deputy attorney
general who was overseeing the office at the time.
The board in
August denied Noem’s motion. However, it did appear to later pay some heed to
Noem’s requests. It dismissed two of Ravnsborg’s allegations that she misused
public funds, and sealed off certain records from being released.
Ravnbsorg
suggested that the board launch a full investigation into the episode by hiring
a Minneapolis law firm. However, the board appears ready to settle the matter.
It closed the complaint and has so far kept it a secret what “action” it may
take against the governor, though it has suggested the complaint could be
reopened later.
The secrecy
of the board’s potential action against the governor has prompted some
criticism from government ethics experts who say the board should be
transparent.
“I would
hope that they would make public their plan of action as soon as possible,”
Karen Soli, a former Democratic state lawmaker who helped create the board,
told the AP last month.
Noem also
made a motion to strike certain documents from the record, but it is not clear
what those records were because the board did not release that motion. The
board’s attorney, Mark Haigh, said the motion was not released because it
contained the list of redacted records.
The board
previously voted to redact records that “contain privileged information”
related to a state fund for paying litigation. The agency’s former director,
Sherry Bren, received a $200,000 payment from the fund to settle an age
discrimination complaint she filed after Labor Secretary Marcia Hultman
pressured her to retire in December of 2020.
Meanwhile,
the board has sent a separate complaint to Mark Vargo, the attorney general who
Noem appointed to replace Ravnsborg, to investigate her use of state airplanes.
Ravnsborg alleged that her use of the state-owned plane to fly to political
events and escort family members around the state violated a state law that
only allows the aircraft to be used for state business.
Vargo’s
office said Friday that, “to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” he has
requested Hughes County State’s Attorney Jessica LaMie to oversee the Division
of Criminal Investigation’s work and make any charging decisions.
This story
has corrected the spelling of the name of attorney Lisa Prostrollo.