No news is good news for killer Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, who remains unimpeached after a month of inaction by the feckless House committee created last month to consider booting Ravnsborg for killing a man and losing the confidence of South Dakota law enforcement:
“The impeachment committee right now is working on getting our legal counsel for the committee, said State Rep. Jamie Smith (D-Sioux Falls), a member of the committee. “Once that is in place, I believe we will be moving forward.”
Smith and eight other members of the select committee voted to allow for the selection of special counsel during their brief meeting on November 10th.
After the initial one, no such meetings have occurred, nor have any announcements been made in regards to who would be hired as special counsel to help guide the committee [Austin Goss, “Ravnsborg Impeachment Trial Offers No Updates, Answers,” KSFY, 2021.12.09].
In true Republican form, Speaker Spencer Gosch decides that, when in doubt or incompetent, blame the media:
Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch (R-Glenham), who heads the committee, says that part of the reason for the delay is because of a number of lawsuits, or threats of lawsuits, that he and the Legislative Research Council (LRC) have faced.
“In the process of finding special counsel we have run into a few hiccups,” Gosch said. “Whether that be frivolous lawsuits from certain media entities, that takes up a ton of our time, or just threats thereof. Ultimately, we have run into other hiccups too. We are still on the right path and will have more updates as they come.”
Gosch also confirmed that the impeachment committee will not meet next week, due to “scheduling conflicts.” The following week is the week of Christmas [Goss, 2021.12.09].
Gosch is whining about the lawsuits he provoked by unconstitutionally withholding the proof that the Special Session he convened for impeachment had sufficient lawmaker support to be legitimate.
Thus, while the family of the man Ravnsborg killed has its second Christmas without Joe, Ravnsborg will enjoy his second Christmas since killing a man with his title and fat state paycheck intact.
AG Ravnsborg has the dirt on South Dakota’s richest man and biggest contributor to the South Dakota Republican Party so Jason being nominated again is not impossible. But if Marty Jackley is nominated at that party’s state convention can Ravnsborg still run as an unaffiliated candidate in the general election?
Ravnsborg can petition to run as an independent… at which point some smart Democratic lawyer had better be in the chute and ready to win.
Well…I’ve always thought that the befuddled Republican leadership would not be able or have the mental acuity or political will, to carry this through to a trial. I think it will just fade away during the session. Somehow. the delegates to the State Republican Convention will have to sort out Ravensborgh’s future.
Gee, a Republican blaming the media. Isn’t there an original thinker in all of the South Dakota Republican party? Its really time for something new boys and girls. At least I don’t have to say anything else. Not in that party of Men and women.
That Ravnsborg has been able to flout the legal process is due largely to his standing as a military officer and not as a political leader. With luck his commander is getting pressure to discipline his sorry soulless seat.
Get rid of Jason and who will keep watch over Noem? Be careful what you ask and wish for.
It’s not an accident that South Dakota’s secretary of state is a Republican because it’s how Republicans decide who gets elected. Want to change that? Convince a member of the extreme white wing of the Republican Party to run as an unaffiliated candidate for secretary of state in the general election and choose a Democrat who can win.
It’s important to remember South Dakota’s election process is entirely corrupted and until the radicals in the SDGOP get involved in the general election Democrats can’t win.