The audit found multiple issues with Sanders’s compliance with the law, including classifying the lectern as an “operating expense,” improperly keeping records, and shredding the bill for the lectern.
“The facts outlined in the report demonstrate what the governor’s office said all along: we followed the law, and the state was fully reimbursed with private funds for the podium, at no cost to the taxpayers,” Sanders said. in September by the Republican Party of Arkansas. It was purchased from a Virginia-based events company run by lobbyist Virginia Beckett.
The audit found that before records were requested, there was no intention from the governor’s office to request a reimbursement. The report found that records had been altered to include “to be reimbursed” to seem as though that was intended. “It should be noted that similar non-customized falcon style podiums can be purchased from online vendors starting at approximately $7,000, as opposed to the $11,575 amount allocated to the custom falcon podium,” the report said.