The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Governor tried to avoid ethics probe
Kristi Noem also sought to have records sealed.
FALLS, S.D. — 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, 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 Ravns- borg 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 meet- ing, Peters signed an agree- ment that gave her another opportunity to meet the licensing requirements.
The South Dakota Legislature’s audit committee, controlled by Republicans, unan- imously 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 unani
mously 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 “appro- priate 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 conspir- acy theories.”
The motionargues 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 inter- est for the governor.
Noem’s attorney argued that the accountability board did not have the constitutional power to act against the governor or evaluate the complaint. the lawyer suggested Ravns- borg, who had been forced from office, be removed from the complaint.
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 alle- gations that she misused pub- lic funds, and sealed certain records from being released.