The Princess and her Podium

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, an Arkansas political princess who grew up in a milieu of fundamentalist Baptist religion and GOP politics and refined her political skills as the official spokesperson for the biggest liar to ever serve as President of the United States, knows a thing or two about the power of presentation - and what better way to present like a pro than to stand behind a truly awesome podium as you regurgitate your daily talking points.

Huckabee Sanders, who is now the Governor of Arkansas, a position once held by her preacher daddy, must have truly been proud this past June when she, or a member of her staff, was able to plop down a state credit card and purchase a really sweet podium from Beckett Events LLC for just $19,029!  (The Associated Press has reported that was significantly higher than other lecterns listed online.)

And things were fine in Walmartland until September when a blogger discovered the purchase and wrote about it.  From that point on it looks as though a cover-up ensued, and it got sloppy.

The Arkansas Republican Party jumped in and quickly reimbursed the state for the entire cost of the podium.  Apparently, according to press reports, Huckabee Sanders' executive assistant then added the words "to be reimbursed" to the original invoice - and an email from a different state employee indicated that someone had told the executive assistant to add that phrase but not to indicate when it had been added.

An attorney in Rogers, Arkansas, sent a letter to an Arkansas legislator stating that he has an anonymous witness who has evidence that the governor's office altered non-exempt Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents, withheld other documents, and removed portions of emails that were subject to public records requests.

The Arkansas blogger who broke the story of the podium purchase had also filed suit against the Arkansas State Police alleging that agency had illegally withheld records that he had requested through the Freedom of Information Act relative to the governor's travel costs, and the governor responded by asking the state legislature to exempt more records from FOIA requests.  Part of the stated rationale for hiding more information from the public was to provide better security to the governor and other state officials.  A new, more restrictive law was passed - and it was made retroactive to June 1, 2022.

Now there is a new citizen's group in Arkansas that is concerned that the new law is intended to hide malfeasance in government, and they are pushing a state constitutional amendment to guarantee more transparency in government.

Yesterday, in reaction to all of the controversy regarding legislative attempts to hide government business from public view, the state's Leglisative Joint Auditing Committee approved an audit, to be performed by independent auditors but under the direction of the state legislature.  The audit will examine the purchase of the governor's new podium to see if any state laws were broken - and to see if public records related to the purchase were altered illegally, what else was purchased during the FOIA blackout period of June 22, 2022 until the present, and the best way to make the results of the audit public.

Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders appears to be more than a little perturbed at all of this political hubbub.  She notes that the state has been reimbursed, and believes that "some people are always going to be angry, always looking to complain about (something), and that's what they're picking right now."

Some of the governor's constituents who drive cars that are worth less than her podium might disagree.