KELO-TV riffled through the recent records of Governor Kristi Noem’s travels and found no sign of political use of the state plane. Raw Story looked back a little further, though, and found some questionable Noem trips on the state plane in 2019:
The out-of-state trips identified by a Raw Story analysis of the flight logs appear to have had nothing to do with her Trump campaign-related travel, which the governor’s communications team has previously said all took place on commercial aircraft or on planes paid for by other campaigns.
Instead, this travel all occurred in 2019, before the presidential campaign was in full swing. Noem traveled by plane to speak before conservative political interest groups and GOP power players. The trips included an NRA conference in San Antonio; a gathering in Dallas of the right-wing youth group Turning Point USA; and a meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition at a Las Vegas casino. She also regularly used the plane to travel to get-togethers hosted by a group for Republican governors in Aspen, Boca Raton and Kentucky.
Other travel appeared to blend the personal and the professional. A trip to New York City to see South Dakota’s Mount Rushmore float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade doubled as a food- and shopping-filled family holiday that flight logs show coincided with Noem’s 48th birthday.
“They just fail the smell test,” University of South Dakota political science professor Michael Card said of these trips. “It’s not following the law, as I understand it. … Whenever we look the other way, it encourages that sort of behavior to continue” [Macy’s link added; Daniel Newhauser, “GOP Governor Kristi Noem, Potential Trump Successor, Used State Aircraft for Tens of Thousands of Dollars in Political Travel,” Raw Story, 2021.02.15].
Boy, Professor Card had better hope the Legislature hurries up an passes House Bill 1254 to prevent the Governor from firing Regental employees for their political perspectives!
I think they all do it for their private gatherings and hope no one notices. Off the subject why is it when I look at Marjorie Taylor Green all I can think of is my old pasted cutting horse?? Noem looks better but no brains and looks fade with time. Senior moment over.
Does South Dakota, like Colorado, have a gift value limit on public officials?
Governor Hickenlooper was found guilty of this regulation.
-The first violation was for accepting meals and a limousine ride at the June 2018 Bilderberg Meeting in Turin, Italy; the second was accepting a private plane ride and VIP meals for the March 2018 commissioning of the USS Colorado in Connecticut.
-Both exceeded the state’s 2018 gift limit of $59, the commission found.
– But, of course, Colorado has an Ethics Commission. SD only has mob rule by self-profiteering Republicans.
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/ethics-commission-releases-final-report-on-hickenlooper-complaints/article_a24d2022-e2f9-11ea-89ca-07d1454670c9.html
Porter – South Dakota has none of that. The lobbyist reporting system is a joke. The state’s campaign reporting requirements have always been loaded with loopholes and the enforcement side of them depend on a secretary of state who is of the same party as 90 percent of the legislature and every other statewide office in South Dakota.
Raw Story’s exposé of COVID Kristi’s illegal uses of the state aircraft should have been KELO’s story. Why wasn’t it? Did the KELO reporter simply accept the word of meat puppet for hire Ian Fury? Was all of the information not in the file when the KELO reporter did her research?
The people voted convincingly to outlaw personal uses of the state aircraft. Mike Rounds got caught red-handed using the planes as his personal Royal Chariot and the people voted in 2006 to forbid the abuse. Now it is called “theft.” I think that theft also applies to COVID Kristi’s abuse of a half million dollars to build a wall around the Governor’s Mansion (she doesn’t even live there!), $130,000 to create a vanity TV studio for her personal use and her theft of state money to pay for security while she abandoned our state during the height of the pandemic to campaign for Trump, herself for president in 2024 and other GOP candidates in other states.
She is bankrolling her and other people’s campaigns with our taxes. She should return our money.
And don’t get me started about her receipt of “dark money” and claiming she doesn’t need to report it because it’s a personal matter. This is how criminal minds think and behave. Mere laws apply only to the little people.
As a majority of the 1 party South Dakota legislators along with Johnson, Thune and Rounds would say the evidence is overwhelming, she did it! We vote not guilty because it is one of our own as we place the Republican party before and above principles, morals, values, rule of laws or anything that is good and just. Dang reporters always digging up and printing the truth.
Law and order went out the window the killing of Joe Boever, A failed state has no laws for its rulers. Kelo Land is like QANON, perfect news for this failed state, nothing to see here. Bring back Captain 11.
KovidKrusti used our money to fly her to NYC so she could shop and to dance in front of the Seinfeld cafe. So, since she is familiar with ’90s NYC sitcoms, I’ll channel Chandler Bing from “Friends” and say: “Could she BE any sleazier?” What a corrupt, self-serving lowlife.
Daily Kos has picked this up as well, good work by all and a kick in the pants to Kelo Land, the South Dakota Fox false news reporter. Captain 11 weeps.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/2/15/2016159/-Gov-Kristi-Noem-may-have-illegally-used-state-airplane-to-attend-right-wing-political-events
What consequences exist, if any, for such behavior?
Talking Points Memo reporting:
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/south-dakota-governor-noem-state-airplane-travel-right-wing-events?fbclid=IwAR2vyugPDbwSchijhX709UN2PmMcwuKtbQPb6a6BmK22oanznW7-rJ-v01c
”Earlier this month, Noem responded to a Twitter post about a food bank in a Texas school by saying, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.” However, as The Daily Beast reported at the time, Noem isn’t averse to receiving handouts when it benefits her: Between 1995 and 2020, the governor’s family-owned ranch collected USDA farm subsidies totaling more than $4.2 million.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/south-dakota-governor-kristi-noem-under-scrutiny-for-using-state-plane-to-fly-to-nra-turning-points-meet-ups?source=facebook&via=desktop&fbclid=IwAR0Sj2ROV087D0NYZzDOgYS0pfUYmreG7qU8_lDNPdijVNPW4mXjBuUZfxk
This brings to light just how corrupt it really is in Pierre!! Too bad the voters are oblivious to what is going on and with the facts! Kristi has always put herself and party above the people of S.D. And with her hand behind her back she gladly accepted millions for her family ranch (farm) from Federal Government ,while she claims to be for small government and anti-socialism. Kristi, where is your promised transparency, honesty, and serving your constituents, rather than forwarding your self serving and polictical agenda?
To put Noem and the tiny state she represents in contrast to her high demands, consider this. In 2017, MN spent $680,000 to install new security fencing around the governor’s mansion. That dollar amount isn’t much more than Noems expensive fence and I don’t ever remember Pierre being known for rioting and protesting. SO really if MN had a high maintenance governor like Noem, he/she probably could have gotten a 2 to 3 million dollar fence considering the history of racial unrest the Cities have. Unlike SD, MN media follows government spending closely so MN politicians can’t get away with half the stuff SD politicians get away with.
I clicked on the story your front page linked to, from the SD Standard, asking if Noemind can be defeated in ’22. They mentioned that her record as governor has been “spotty”. Apparently “spotty” is a synonym for (never mind all the quotes) useless, abysmal, worthless, corrupt, self-serving, completely-lacking-in-substance, opaque, corrupt, corrupt, corrupt, thin-skinned, unhinged, conspiracy-theory-propagating, moronic, off-the-rails weird, inept, incompetent, amateurish, shameless, shameful, embarrassing, did I mention corrupt?
If there are private use implications, is there a tax liability as well — of the sort that embarrassed and torpedoed Daschel’s cabinet nomination?
Does the Pierre Capitol have a press conference/TV studio room? The St Paul Capitol has one specifically for press conferences but I don’t know if the Governor’s mansion has one. I doubt it, whenever I see a press conference from the MNs mansion, it is done very casually in a living room or den with the Governor sitting on a couch. Why did Gov Noem.want a TV studio room in the basement of all places? Are legislators allowed to use it? Having it at the capitol so more people could use it would have made more sense especially that cost.
Ms. Jenny, the legislatures have press conferences every day. Are you not paying attention or watching the media?
So why couldn’t Noem have just made a nice pad in the press conference room at the capitol? It wasn’t good enough for her? Knock it off Grudzilla, go take some pepto bismol and go to bed.
Ms. Jenny, you are clearly daft. Ms. Noem’s press room, from all news accounts, is at the Capitol, and you can see her weekly along with the legislatures of both parties. It is the insanerism and NDS exhibited by those like you that give no credibility to your fellows who are not insaner.
I’m proud of Mike Card for his insights…he’s been around the block in Pierre and knows how the old town works…hope the legislature passes the law leaving our professors to comment on the workings of government ..Would they fire Doc Farber??? Academic freedom is a strength of the democratic system of government and a liability only to tyrants.
Run along grody grudzilla. The nursing assistants are looking for you again.
Noem is a spendthrift and the studio was not needed. The comparisons between Noems selfish financial demands and MNs governor is to the point of amusing. Noem insisting and getting a half million dollar fence when she is not even there most of the time and the cost being almost as much as MNs capitol mansion fence! Narcissists always have a grandiose heightened sense of importance of themselves. St Paul’s security concerns are very real after last summer. There has never been a protest at the SD Governor’s mansion that I know of.
Gov Walz is too busy working for the people of MN to find time to go to NYC parades and if he did he would be smart enough to not bill the state for it. Go after her Dems. Kristi is a fake.
People like fences.
I wish your republican legislators weren’t so against transparency, Grimy Grud.
Tax liability, O? If Noem runs for President, maybe the national press and her opponents will be able to pressure her to release her tax returns so we can see just what income and items of value she claims. But odds are, she’ll take the route of her Manhattan/Florida role model and refuse to disclose her finances.