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On Thursday, a court in South Dakota ruled that American Oversight’s lawsuit seeking Gov. Kristi Noem’s travel expense records could proceed — a victory for public accountability.
We sued Noem’s office in September for failing to release documents requested through the state’s public records law, including expense records from trips taken while in office to several partisan events.
- Among the records sought are expenses from trips in early 2022 to a CPAC event in Florida and a Republican Party event in New York. Nearly a year later, the public still doesn’t know how much, if any, taxpayer money was spent on those trips.
- We’re also seeking the release of documents from the state Department of Labor and Regulation that reflect legal costs related to an age-discrimination complaint filed by a former state employee.
Rather than releasing the requested records, Noem’s office has fought in court to avoid public disclosure, relying on unrelated proceedings and misreadings of South Dakota law.
- Judge Kathleen Trandahl of the Hughes County Circuit Court rejected the governor’s attempts to invent new open records procedures and to impose onerous requirements as a condition of exercising the public’s right to government records.
- “The people of South Dakota have the right to know how the governor is spending their money, particularly when it comes to travel expenses for partisan political events,” said Executive Director Heather Sawyer. “It’s time for Noem’s office to abandon its costly attempts to avoid transparency, and release the records the public is entitled to see.”
On the Records
‘Write the Report As You See Fit’
We recently obtained more documents in response to our lawsuit for records from the 2021 election “audit” in Arizona’s Maricopa County that reveal new details about Cyber Ninjas CEO Doug Logan’s contacts with prominent election deniers and Trump allies Patrick Byrne and Michael Flynn.
- Text messages exchanged in 2021 show Byrne expressing concern about reports that “extraordinary political maneuvering” would water down the expected conclusions of Cyber Ninjas’ final report. Byrne encouraged Logan to “write the report as you see fit with no political compromise.”
- That report ultimately concluded that Biden had defeated Trump in Maricopa, but still attempted to cast doubt on the results.
- In another text, Logan wrote to Flynn, “I will not be complying with the requests to give over staffing details (aka a list of who is involved).” (Here are records that were released with information about “audit” employees and volunteers.)
- The documents also indicate that Logan helped Republicans in the Pennsylvania Senate with what appears to be the subpoena for detailed voter records as part of its statewide “forensic investigation” of the 2020 election.
Ryan Zinke’s Ethics Investigations
In 2018, Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke resigned in a cloud of ethics investigations, returning to Washington four years later as a newly elected representative from Montana. This week, he delivered a speech to the House of Representatives blaming the “deep state” for attempting to stop his election and for endangering “the American cowboy.”
Notably, Zinke’s speech offered no evidence to back up his allegations — nor did it make any mention of the multiple scandals that led to his resignation. We began investigating a range of concerns about Zinke’s conduct in office in 2017, and helped to uncover a number of issues, including:
- Taxpayer dollars spent on questionable travel, including $12,000 chartered flights to his hometown, as well as the participation of his wife in official government travel;
- The arranging of VIP tours of national parks for Trump administration allies;
- Calendars of senior staff that revealed a meeting with an energy company CEO that had not been previously disclosed to the public; and
- Unnecessary taxpayer-funded office decorations — including taxidermied animals (bison, elk, grizzly and moose) — to be installed in the offices of Zinke and senior aides.
Other Stories We're Following
Jan. 6 Investigations
- Trump campaign officials got subpoena asking new questions about Jan. 6 (Washington Post)
- Judge will allow prosecutors to use Trump’s ‘stand back and stand by’ comment in Proud Boys trial (CNN)
- Enablers, line-straddlers and quiet resisters: How GOP lawmakers contributed to Jan. 6 (Politico)
- Videos of Brazil attack show striking similarities to Jan. 6 (Washington Post)
- Special counsel Jack Smith gets trove of new documents from local election officials (CNN)
Election Denial
- After election problems in Houston, Republicans seek to overturn results (New York Times)
- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel reopens investigation into false Trump electors (Detroit News)
- Voter fraud movement has taken root in Louisiana (The Advocate)
- Missouri’s top election official met with conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell (Kansas City Star)
- After election problems in Houston, Republicans seek to overturn results (New York Times)
- Pennsylvania County completes hand recount of 2020 presidential election (Votebeat Pennsylvania)
- Two Texas bills would expand AG’s powers to prosecute election crimes (Votebeat Texas)
Voting Rights
- Man arrested at gunpoint in DeSantis voter fraud crackdown, video shows (Guardian)
- Another ‘radical’ change to the Voting Rights Act could reach the Supreme Court (CNN)
- Ohio voters will need photo ID for in-person voting, under bill signed by Gov. Mike DeWine (Cleveland.com)
- In a state with 1 million license suspensions, Ohio voter ID law could depress turnout (Ohio Capital Journal)
- Wisconsin Elections Commissioner stands by voting comments (Associated Press)
National News
- Former U.S. attorney named special counsel in Biden document probe (CNN)
- Mutually assured obstruction: House GOP aims ‘weaponization’ panel at DOJ (Politico)
- House Republicans vote to restrict abortion rights (Washington Post)
- Next frontier in the abortion wars: Your local CVS (Politico)
- Exxon scientists predicted global warming, even as company casts doubts, study finds (New York Times)
In the States
- Iowans give millions to sheriffs’ group that spends only 34% on charity (Iowa Capital Dispatch)
- With abortion fight likely looming, Missouri GOP looks to raise bar to change constitution (Missouri Independent)
- Five Democratic politicians’ homes or offices have been shot at in Albuquerque (NPR)
- Two Texas bills would restrict lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools (Texas Tribune)
Trump Accountability
- Special grand jury in Georgia Trump inquiry concludes its investigation (New York Times)
- Trump financial officer Allen Weisselberg sentenced to five months in jail (Washington Post)
- Trump Org. fined $1.6 million for criminal tax fraud (Politico)
- Giuliani subpoenaed amid special counsel investigation into Trump’s fundraising (CNN)
Immigration
- Texas awards biggest border wall contract yet to Trump-tied firm (Texas Observer)
- They built the wall. Now some in Texas fear it may fall down (New York Times)
- Arizona Gov. Ducey's shipping container barrier to cost Arizona taxpayers over $200M (Arizona Republic)
- Martha's Vineyard migrant flight lawsuit could cost Florida $1 million (Tallahassee Democrat)
The Coronavirus
- Still fuming over the federal Covid response, Republicans redirect the House coronavirus committee (Stat News)
- U.S. watchdogs guarding $5 trillion in Covid aid say they need more money (Washington Post)
- Some newly mailed Covid tests from the government expire imminently — even with extensions (NBC News)
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