About a half hour into this afternoon’s House session, Representatives Elizabeth May and Dan Kaiser moved to disband the Select Committee that they moved to form last Friday to investigate last Wednesday’s floor fracas between Representatives David Johnson and Lynne DiSanto.
Rep. DiSanto was the sole speaker on today’s motion. For the record, here is what Rep. DiSanto said:
Last week there was an event that happened on the floor following session as most of you know regarding representative Johnson and myself. Many of you and my colleagues also expressed concern regarding the situation and felt that it needed to be addressed. It was a very unfortunate event, and for me it was a scary event. I believed that his behavior was unacceptable and unprofessional. However, he has acknowledged that his behavior was wrong. Representative Johnson has made a personal apology to me, and I have accepted that apology.
Actions do, however, have consequences, and we privately have talked regarding what some of those consequences might possibly be. What’s most important to me is that Representative Johnson has acknowledged of his need to get help from his family as well as his religious advisor. I hope that he moves ahead on this and is able to work through whatever private issues caused some of the behavior.
I am grateful to you the body for your support in this matter, especially to Representative May and Representative Kaiser who made the motion for the formation of this committee. I wish Representative Johnson nothing but the best of luck moving forward, and I would like to publicly say that Representative Johnson is not just my colleague but he is my friend.
In light of this, I would appreciate the support of this body on this motion [Rep. Lynne DiSanto, floor speech, House of Representatives, Pierre, SD, 2018.02.26, timestamp 31:22].
The House voted 64–1 to dissolve the Select Committee. Rep. Chris Karr was the only Nay.
Apparently this matter is closed, and the House will take no action against Rep. Johnson. Johnson and DiSanto have chosen their words carefully to avoid giving any more details, and the Legislative committee that would have placed details of the fracas on the record will not convene.
I was in the Capitol today and talked to one long time lobbyist. It sounds as though many in the building are tired of DiSanto’s antics and are going to begin refusing to even try to work with her. She has burned too many bridges.
The GOP Party has circled the wagons. Another issue dealt with behind closed doors. So much for transparency in one-party government.
Mr. Nemec indeed speaks to the special and unique snowflake issues surrounding most drama queens.
Does anyone else get the impression that the “situation” between the two was actually of a more personal than political nature? Or is that just me?
Thank you Rapid City voters for wasting the legislators time. Vet your candidates. Leave the convicted criminals and nutbags home.
There is so much more to this “story”…… but we will probably never learn any of it.
The “quick to form a committee because things were so egregious” stance — to the “quick to disband the committee”? In just a few short days? WOW. Did the governor, Jackley, and Noem get ahold of folks and tell them to sweep up this mess as soon as possible, otherwise, GOP will take some hits in November?
A big thanks to Gov Daugaard for wisely giving the old veto to lawmakers carrying guns into the capital. DiSanto’s reasoning for wanting a gun, would be so she could defend herself in Pierre if ever she was ever in fear for her safety. She has stated, several times, that Johnson caused her to be fearful for her safety. Can you imagine what might have happened last week if these folks were carrying?
By all means, David, talk to your “religious” counselor. Perhaps (s)he can help you figure out why you would refer to DiSanto as a “friend.”