But the board appeared to let Noem decide whether to defend herself in a public hearing, known as a contested case hearing, or simply accept the “appropriate action” and let the matter quietly die. As a deadline passed last week to contest the board’s finding,“This all looks like, frankly, an ethics board trying to engage in a cover-up,” said Kathleen Clark, a law professor who specializes in government ethics at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
After reviewing the board’s statutes, Clark pointed out that South Dakota law says the board “shall” conduct a contested case hearing if the board members vote that there is enough evidence to believe an official engaged in misconduct. That vote then triggers a statute that makes the board’s files open to the public.The board’s attorney said by email that the board has “maintained confidentiality where required by the statute” and is “confident that it has interpreted the statutes correctly.
Board members on Tuesday either did not respond to a request for comment on their action or referred questions to the attorney. The board, which deliberated over the complaints for nearly a year in a series of closed-door meetings, has never handled such a high-profile case since its inception in 2017.
How easy is it to get this license legitimately? These people are so damn lazy. What a waste.
This won't stay private, AP et al will be suing for open records
“The state’s Government Accountability Board was created to provide a check on any misconduct by state officials, and the question of whether to discipline the Republican governor presented its first major test.”
Snowflake
What happened to transparency? Sounds like the 'appropriate action' may have been, 'just don't do it again KristiNoem'. Could the ethics board be predominantly Cult of Personality party members trying to protect her presidential aspirations?
*face-smack* That's politics for you in South Dakota... The people at the top get special privileges we all lowly citizens don't get. And sadly voting her out would be worse (because no one voted her out during the primary).
IT'S A PUBLIC FUCKING RECORD.
I see all the libbies complaining about transparency. Aren’t paybacks a bitch?
'We looked in the folder. There's nothing there.' Ethics Board: 'Exactly.'
Cowards do what cowards do 🤷🏽♂️
Great. I’ll just assume it was “fuck all” then.
10% for the big guy.
Didn't parents go to prison for doing this re college?
So ... they did nothing?