Seth Tupper picks up Republican Attorney General candidate John Fitzgerald’s accusation that fellow A.G. contender Jason Ravnsborg has never tried a criminal case before a jury. Being a good journalist, Tupper follows up and gives Ravnsborg a chance to respond. Instead, Ravnsborg gives Republicans reason to be nervous:
Fitzgerald has publicly alleged that Ravnsborg has never tried a case before a jury as a prosecutor. Ravnsborg did not respond to phone and email messages from the Rapid City Journal seeking a response [Seth Tupper, “Democrat Leads Fundraising in Unusual SD Attorney General Race,” Rapid City Journal, 2018.06.15].
Uh oh. This question shouldn’t be hard. You’re running for Attorney General. It’s a week before convention. An opponent is saying you’ve never tried a criminal case before a jury, which I would agree is a pretty significant charge of inexperience to make against someone who wants to be our top prosecutor. The press calls an e-mails asking for your response. What do you do?
Back the truck up: you don’t wait for the press to call and e-mail. If the accusation is false, you get on the horn and say, “Horsehockey! I’ve tried all sorts of criminal jury trials. Here’s a list. My opponent’s lying! Vote for me!”
Instead, Ravnsborg doesn’t pick up the phone. He doesn’t check the voicemail. he doesn’t open his e-mail and see “Seth Tupper, Rapid City Journal” in the inbox. Ravnsborg is either woefully out of touch (and gee, he hasn’t tweeted since June 9, but he did Share an SDGOP veterans fundraiser post yesterday on Facebook) or he’s avoiding a pretty easy question… neither of which bodes well for his campaign.
Paul Manafort, trumps campaign manager, is off to the hoosegow. Ravnsborg could go to court for him to try his chops. Of course, that prosecution dealy has been done by Robert Mueller as one more limb of the trump/Putin criminal tree is pruned.
As a delegate, I posted three simple questions on Mr Ravnsborg’s FB page to this effect:
Please cite any criminal case you prosecuted in front of a jury as a lead prosecutor
Please cite what office you have ever been elected to.
Please cite any bills of Republican interest you ever testified in front of a Legislative committee..
His response? He blocked me.
Stace, you or Chad Haber should run. It’s time.
Can you believe the press waited this long to ask a candidate for statewide office even a simple question about basic qualifications? It’s ridiculous that the Ravnsborg charade has gone on this long. That guy doesn’t have the experience to be state’s attorney in a county let alone AG.
With all the credibility of a door-to-door salesman from Acme Vacuum Cleaner Sales of Walla Walla, Washington, Ravnsborg’s previous experience stirring up hatred and paranoia against Muslims should earn him the support of the Neal Tapio Wing of the S.D. Republican Party.
https://dakotafreepress.com/2017/10/25/ravnsborg-slideshow-shuffle-continues-peddling-sharia-fears-in-rapid-next-month/
It’s a progression: they elected Kristi to go to Congress to do nothing. Maybe SD Republicans are now ready to elect Jason to go to the Attorney General’s office to do nothing… at least nothing against Dan Lederman’s chosen party favorites.
That is pretty pitiful. He can’t campaign and he can’t litigate, but he can hate and he wants to be a Jeff Sessions-type AG so he can use the office to attack his targets!
Update: Ravnsborg is off doing his Army Reserves training. In his video to the Siouxland Republican Women, he says he has done criminal trials and civil trails in his law firm and has worked on several cases in Union County. He then tries to turn the discussion from the “attorney” side of the job to the “general” side of the job and touts his leadership abilities.
“has done criminal trials and civil trails”
What does that mean, Ravnsborg, exactly?
Jason was on a United flight from Sioux Falls to Chicago on Tuesday, June 12th. It’s likely meaningless, but as I sat and waited to board I saw his face stuck in his laptop waiting for the same plane. For a very brief moment I considered striking up a conversation, but I do my best not to talk to strangers (in person, anyway).
Interesting, Ryan! I appreciate your inclination not to talk to strangers… but feel free to take a few discreet pictures of them. ;-)
Face stuck in his laptop? Hmm… so he could have responded to Seth Tupper from the road….