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Ravnsborg Announces Crony Natvig’s Bid for Attorney General: Ploy to Block Jackley, Keep Ravnsborg in Pierre?

Is killer Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg finally recognizing that when he killed Joseph Boever, he killed his political career?

KSFY’s Austin Goss got the scoop last night when he reported Ravnsborg’s confirmation that his pal and Division of Criminal Investigation director David Natvig will seek the Republican nomination for Attorney General. Just as importantly, Ravnsborg told Goss that he is “still weighing his options” with respect to his own bid for the nomination.

That’s a remarkable turnaround from actively recruiting convention delegates and sending zero signals that he would consider anything other than seeking the nomination at the June convention. Ravnsborg’s campaign website and online donation page remain active, but his personal announcement that Natvig will seek Ravnsborg’s job and that Ravnsborg is not committed to seeking the nomination himself, Ravnsborg’s first public comment since his impeachment and suspension, suggests he doesn’t want to risk a crushing defeat at the hands of Marty Jackley at convention and is looking for a way to save face.

But could this also be a desperate ploy to save his gainful employment? If Ravnsborg signals that he won’t seek reëlection, he takes some of the pressure off the Senate to convict him, remove him from office, and permanently disqualify him from future public office. He provides all those Trumpist delegates he’s lined up a way to campaign for their convention seats without having to defend their support for killer Ravnsborg. Instead they can pivot neatly to Natvig, who himself can take up the line Ravnsborg tried out in his eleventh-hour argument against impeachment: impeachment is a political put-up job weaponized by Governor Kristi Noem to stifle the Attorney General’s investigations into her corruption, and the A.G.’s office must remain independent of the Governor—i.e., not be handed to her chosen insider nominee Marty Jackley—to ensure those investigations continue. Natvig can campaign hard for the job without mentioning Ravnsborg, whose name Natvig does not mention in his campaign announcement.

Remove Ravnsborg as a voting issue, give delegates a clean alternative to Sanford-defending Jackley—if that gambit works, and if Natvig wins the general election, Natvig can take office next January and save Ravnsborg from having to move back to Yankton and write wills. Remember that Ravnsborg elevated Natvig from state’s attorney for Brule and Buffalo counties to DCI chief after Natvig and his wife poured $4,000 donations into Ravnsborg’s 2018 campaign. Natvig could move fellow Ravnsborg crony Tim Bormann into the DCI chair and name Ravnsborg his chief of staff, a position Ravnsborg created for donor and campaign staffer Bormann. Chief of staff would be ideal: Ravnsborg wouldn’t have to do anything important, and he wouldn’t have to do any lawyering and lose any more cases for the state. As chief of staff to Natvig, Ravnsborg could just sit and edit memos and keep pulling down $118,140.12 a year. He could hang around Pierre, travel to meetings and political events with Natvig, keep tabs on party players, and find ways to carry GOP water, all in hopes that, after eight years of quiet service, the party might forget all this nasty highway killing and sniveling malarkey and impeachment (which, he will remind those 2030 voters, ended in acquittal after he graciously bowed out of seeking reëlection) and nominate Jason for something else.

But that gambit’s success is a big if. Even if Natvig can keep shift the conversation from Ravnsborg, he still has to beat the well-connected, well-funded, widely endorsed Jackley machine. Jackley likely has more resources (i.e., money and friendly campaigners in each town and precinct to get out the primary vote) to help his delegates win their primary elections and claim their seats at convention.

Whatever the machinations, the good news remains: Jason Ravnsborg is sending his first clear signal that he recognizes he cannot win the Republican nomination and probably cannot win the general election with the death of Joseph Boever and his dishonesty afterward hanging around his neck.

55 Comments

  1. Scott Ehrisman 2022-05-10 16:39

    Funny, I was just talking about this, but I think it is the other way around, I think Jackley recruited Natvig to split up the vote if Rumblestrips decides to run.

    The bigger question Republicans will have at convention is, who is worse? Natvig or Jackboots? Scary stuff.

  2. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-10 16:49

    Would Natvig turn on his patron Jason and do Jackley’s bidding? If Natvig is jumping in to help Jackley, why would Ravnsborg announce the news?

  3. grudznick 2022-05-10 17:29

    Mr. Natvig could flip, Mr. H, after reading the scowls on the faces of the fellows in the hospitality suites in Watertown, and he could trade his support to Mr. Jackley in return for keeping his cushy desk job in the corner office.

  4. Kurt Evans 2022-05-10 17:31

    https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2021/02/25/jason-ravnsborg-south-dakota-attorney-general-accident-impeachment-investigation-joseph-boever/6813909002/

    Joe Sneve at the Argus Leader makes the direct assertion, unsourced and in his own voice, that Joe Boever was going back to his crashed truck “to try and fix it.”

    Arielle Zionts at South Dakota Public Broadcasting makes the direct assertion, unsourced and in her own voice, that Jason “drifted” onto the shoulder.

    Numerous reporters at Dakota News Now and KELO-TV make the direct assertion, unsourced and in their own voices, that Joe was “walking” when he was struck.

    Stu Whitney at South Dakota News Watch makes the direct assertion, unsourced and in his own voice, that Jason pleaded “guilty” to two misdemeanors, and nearly every daily newspaper in South Dakota has run the story uncorrected.

    Pat Powers at South Dakota War College simply deletes comments supporting Jason by the dozen.

    None of that is traditional American journalism. It’s a propaganda war.

    Joe Boever took nearly a month’s worth of the psychotropic drug lorazepam in less than 36 hours and disabled his truck by smashing it into a bale beside the highway hard enough to force the grille guard back into the grille. Neither he nor the cousin who picked him up reported that crash. Joe then left town on foot after dark, didn’t ask anyone for a ride, declined a ride offered by a passing motorist, and never told anyone why he was out there.

    Jason says he was transitioning between speed zones, hadn’t set the cruise control yet, looked at the speedometer, and struck something in the driving lanes. Joe’s impact with the right side of the car presumably would have angled it onto the shoulder, where his body presumably would have been struck for a second time when it tumbled forward off the hood.

    Judge John Brown had apparently made up his mind about the case in advance. He excluded Joe’s medical records, denied Jason a jury trial, and despite accepting a “no contest” plea, initially sought to sentence Jason to lecture young people about the dangers of distracted driving. To be clear, a “no contest” plea means the defendant admits he’s likely to be convicted but explicitly doesn’t admit guilt.

    Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price alleges that some unknown “distraction” caused Jason to drive ten feet outside the white line at the very spot where the overdosed Joe Boever was supposedly “walking.” Does South Dakota have one honest journalist who can ask Marty Jackley for his opinion of that preposterously far-fetched coincidence?

    Thanks to Cory Heidelberger here at the appropriately named Dakota Free Press for allowing the expression of opinions that may not advance his personal political agenda.

  5. grudznick 2022-05-10 17:44

    Mr. Evans, why do you hate Joe enough to point your insanerisms at him?

  6. Kurt Evans 2022-05-10 17:53

    Cory asks:

    Would Natvig turn on his patron Jason and do Jackley’s bidding? If Natvig is jumping in to help Jackley, why would Ravnsborg announce the news?

    They’re maybe three or four years older than I am, but I’m pretty sure David Natvig’s wife is originally from my hometown of Wessington Springs and moved to Kimball when we were growing up.

    A Libertarian could criticize David Natvig for many things, but disloyalty probably isn’t one of them.

  7. Kurt Evans 2022-05-10 18:26

    Cory writes:

    … [Republican convention delegates] can pivot neatly to Natvig, who himself can take up the line Ravnsborg tried out in his eleventh-hour argument against impeachment: impeachment is a political put-up job weaponized by Governor Kristi Noem to stifle the Attorney General’s investigations into her corruption, and the A.G.’s office must remain independent of the Governor—i.e., not be handed to her chosen insider nominee Marty Jackley—to ensure those investigations continue.

    I believe Jason is probably innocent of more than 99 percent of the evil of which he’s been accused, but regardless of whether he were 100 percent guilty, Governor Noem has deliberately and repeatedly violated the foundational American principle of the separation of powers by abusing the extravagant taxpayer-financed resources of the executive branch of government to disrupt the proceedings of the judicial and legislative branches.

    I’d always assumed that Governor Noem genuinely shared my traditional Christian belief that the Bible is true, including Genesis 1-3 and First Corinthians 12-14, and I’d wanted very much for her to succeed. As such, I’m profoundly disappointed and personally embarrassed by her behavior.

    Jason’s phone had been locked east of Highmore, and he wasn’t using it at the time of the crash. He looked down at the speedometer, and Joe was in the driving lane to commit suicide.

    Kristi Noem should resign, and Craig Price should go to prison.

  8. grudznick 2022-05-10 18:38

    Mr. Rhoden would not name you as Mr. Price’s replacement, Mr. Evans. On the seventh day “God” rested, and Mr. Rhoden took over.

  9. Kurt Evans 2022-05-10 18:54

    “grudznick” writes:

    Mr. Rhoden would not name you as Mr. Price’s replacement, Mr. Evans. On the seventh day “God” rested, and Mr. Rhoden took over.

    Few people will be happier than I’ll be if South Dakota voters this fall have a choice for governor among Jamie Smith, Larry Rhoden, and Tracey Quint:
    https://dakotafreepress.com/2022/05/07/mail-and-date-not-a-problem-map-is-secretary-of-state-will-certify-libertarian-candidates-minus-two-misdistricted-senate-hopefuls/

  10. grudznick 2022-05-10 19:11

    Well, the Rhoden Rhangers will muster up a passel of votes for the incumbent, but I admit this young Ms. Quint is very interesting. Very interesting indeed.

  11. larry kurtz 2022-05-10 19:15

    Mr. Evans rise to any stage in South Dakota politics is clear evidence that the fans have been hit with the spit of demons where everyone in the room is sprayed.

  12. larry kurtz 2022-05-10 19:24

    That Jason Ravnsborg is still on any political stage in my home state is clear evidence of the complete breakdown of jurisprudence and the colossal ineptitude of lawyers like Lee Schoenbeck.

  13. Mark Anderson 2022-05-10 20:20

    It’s so nice that trumpies will really believe any fantasy that they sling. Thank you Kurt Evans, I really needed a good laugh today.

  14. Arlo Blundt 2022-05-10 20:26

    Well…I believe Mr. Ravensborg is a latent aesexual trapped in a suppressed adolescence who got on a roll in the Republican Party. He’s not the first, nor the last. The Party is full of Jason Ravensborgs.

  15. Kurt Evans 2022-05-10 21:39

    Mark Anderson writes:

    It’s so nice that trumpies will really believe any fantasy that they sling. Thank you Kurt Evans, I really needed a good laugh today.

    President Trump delivered two or three good speeches and appointed mostly-sane justices to the Supreme Court, but he’s a pathological liar for whom I’ve never campaigned or voted.

  16. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-11 05:39

    Kurt’s counterfactual conspiracy theory has no clear bearing on the political story, because too few people believe Kurt’s counterfactual story to affect the outcome of the convention or the election. Ravnsborg is signaling that he will not pursue reëlection. He announced the candidacy of one of his small-town cronies, a campaign donor who bought his way into a job that he probably would not have been in contention for under any qualified Attorney General. The simple game afoot is that Ravnsborg recognizes he is politically dead and now can only take steps to reduce the chances of being convicted in the Senate. The more complicated game, yet a game consistent with Ravnsborg’s shameless self-promotion and political maneuvering (and if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s political maneuvering), is that he is trying to put in place a friendly successor who can keep him on the public payroll in Pierre instead of having to go back to Yankton to work in a hamstrung private practice or move back home to Iowa to live with the only person who loves him, his dad.

  17. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-11 06:04

    Natvig was a USD-trained lawyer, not a cop, before coming to DCI. Why would Ravnsborg appoint a lawyer to a cop job?

    Natvig’s predecessor, Bryan Gortmaker, started as a deputy sheriff in Minnehaha County, got his degree in criminal justice from Augie, and after graduation went straight to his career in DCI. Previous DCI directors:

    That takes us back 35 years. The six previous DCI directors have all been cops. Not Natvig. Why that change?

  18. Mark Anderson 2022-05-11 06:20

    Jeez Kurt Evans, it is some nice to hear you aren’t a trumpie and voted for Biden.

  19. Nick Nemec 2022-05-11 08:14

    If through his machinations Ravnsborg is able to avoid a Senate conviction he might be able to save his promotion to colonel in the US Army Reserve. Promotions to colonel must be approved by a US Senate vote prior to promotion, Ravnsborg’s promotion has had a hold placed on it and won’t be voted on until the hold is removed. If the SD Senate fails to convict Ravnsborg the US Senate hold may be removed and Ravnsborg will be approved for promotion. A retired Colonel Ravnsborg will receive a much larger retirement check every month than a retired Lieutenant Colonel Ravnsborg would receive.

    It’s all about the Benjamins.

  20. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-11 08:57

    That’s a good reminder, Nick. Even if Ravnsborg has no viable path to remain in Pierre or in politics, he still has that military pension… and given his lack of job skills, that pension is probably going to be all the more important in keeping food on his lonely table for the rest of his miserable life. His killing a man and his subsequent dishonorable behavior is already weighing heavily against a promotion, but conviction by the Senate could seal the deal for blocking that final promotion and the 25% pension boost. Avoiding conviction may be Ravnsborg’s last gambit.

  21. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-11 19:56

    Pat Powers usefully notes that Dave Roetman of the Big-Lie/insurrectionist Patriot Ripple Group is endorsing Natvig. That’s interesting: maybe the Trumpists realize that, to stage their next coup, they need to have as many of their people in positions of power as possible, and even Trumpists aren’t stupid enough to think that Jason Ravnsborg can win the nomination or the election. I said last month the Trumpists were Jason’s last chance; maybe they told him they just couldn’t get behind him and that if he really wants to promote the Trump cause, he needs to step aside, let his pal run, and then maybe slip back into a quiet sinecure if Natvig wins.

  22. Kurt Evans 2022-05-11 22:14

    Cory writes:

    Kurt’s counterfactual conspiracy theory has no clear bearing on the political story, because too few people believe Kurt’s counterfactual story to affect the outcome of the convention or the election.

    Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price alleges that some unknown “distraction” caused Jason to drive ten feet outside the white line at the very spot where the overdosed Joe Boever was supposedly “walking.”

    Price’s preposterously far-fetched story is the one that’s counterfactual.

    … [Jason’s military] pension is probably going to be all the more important in keeping food on his lonely table for the rest of his miserable life.

    That seems a bit harsh.

    Mark Anderson writes:

    … Kurt Evans, it is some nice to hear you aren’t a trumpie and voted for Biden.

    I voted for Jo Jorgensen and Spike Cohen, even though I would have preferred Cohen at the top of the ticket.

  23. ds 2022-05-11 22:23

    Whilst riding bicycle along South Dakota state highways, keep your ears tuned to the sound of vehicles approaching behind you. IF you hear the sound of rumble strips, HIT THE DITCH….IT’S JASON driving distracted & on his cellphone again.

  24. Mark Anderson 2022-05-11 22:41

    Jo Spike your vote Kurt Evans, I voted for the winner. Sorry, I didn’t really think you voted for the winner. Keep slinging that wonderful hash about the dead, it fits you.

  25. Mark Anderson 2022-05-11 22:47

    You know, you could write a fictional book around this Kurt Evans, it did wonders for Vance. You could call it Highmore Elegy, run for the Senate in four years. Anythings possible.

  26. grudznick 2022-05-12 07:41

    Mr. Evans, do not let them bully you about your vote. grudznick also proudly voted for Jo and Spike.

  27. Nick Nemec 2022-05-12 09:33

    I’ll give grudznick credit for not voting for Trump, who is insaner than most.

  28. Bonnie B Fairbank 2022-05-12 10:14

    That startled me, too, Mr.Nemec, when I first read it. Grudznick’s reason is because Grudz is a conservative, not nuts.

  29. Bonnie B Fairbank 2022-05-12 10:53

    This whole situation is too Machiavellian for my tiny mind. As a gentleman caught in an untenable position, Ravnsborg should have updated his will, spread a tarp in his bathtub, and blown his brains out. ‘Course, our hero is no gentleman, and hardly qualifies as human.

  30. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-12 11:19

    Bonnie, I decline to endorse suicide as gentlemanly. Resignation would suffice.

    The situation is most definitely and entirely Machiavellian. Ravnsborg and Natvig aren’t using any decent moral calculus. They are playing for power. Ravnsborg may realize he has no shot at winning power on a straight-up vote. He may realize that he weakens his own chances and his party’s chances by appearing on a ballot. But he doesn’t want to resign or give up power or his potential Army promotion and higher pension. Natvig can’t be acting independently of his boss—for Pete’s sake, Natvig and Ravnsborg obviously talked about Natvig’s candidacy before Natvig announced; Ravnsborg broke the story. They have a plan, and that plan is about their own political fortunes.

  31. Kurt Evans 2022-05-12 22:10

    “ds” writes:

    IF you hear the sound of rumble strips, HIT THE DITCH….IT’S JASON driving distracted & on his cellphone again.

    Jason’s phone had been locked east of Highmore, and he wasn’t using it at the time of the crash. He hadn’t even set the cruise control yet. He looked down at the speedometer, and Joe was in the driving lane to commit suicide. The phone wasn’t unlocked until Jason unlocked it to call 911 a few seconds after the crash.

    Mark Anderson writes to me:

    Keep slinging that wonderful hash about the dead, it fits you.

    Joe Boever took nearly a month’s worth of the psychotropic drug lorazepam in less than 36 hours and disabled his truck by smashing it into a bale beside the highway hard enough to force the grille guard back into the grille. Neither he nor the cousin who picked him up reported that crash. Joe then left town on foot after dark, didn’t ask anyone for a ride, declined a ride offered by a passing motorist, and never told anyone why he was out there.

    Joe’s impact with the right side of Jason’s car presumably would have angled it from the driving lanes onto the shoulder, where his body presumably would have been struck for a second time when it tumbled forward off the hood.

    Cory writes:

    … I decline to endorse suicide as gentlemanly. Resignation would suffice.

    Craig Price publicly attacked prosecutors Emily Sovell and Michael Moore for not trying to put Jason in prison.

    [David Natvig and Jason Ravnsborg] have a plan, and that plan is about their own political fortunes.

    Marty Jackley jokes that “AG” stands for “almost governor,” but his actions indicate that he really does view the office as a political stepping stone.

  32. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-13 06:28

    Kurt’s on something, but it’s not the topic.

    Ravnsborg and Natvig have a plan, and that plan involves salvaging whatever income or political access they can for Ravnsborg. I have no doubt that Jackley is acting in his own political self-interest as well and that he would more than happily seek promotion to a higher office after four or eight more years as Attorney General.

  33. Nick Nemec 2022-05-13 07:14

    For 20 months gadflies who have never inspected the scene of the crash, the evidence at the scene or done any actual analysis of the evidence collected have been floating unscientific theories unsupported by the facts. The process and the science done by investigators from three states is sound.

    Ignore the gadflies, some of them are simply instigators intent on stirring up comment sections, some may have ulterior motives, some are too busy responding to the voices in their own head to understand the report. All of them are wrong.

  34. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-13 08:10

    I want to hear the voices in Ravnsborg’s and Natvig’s heads. What’s their plan? Will Ravnsborg announcing that he won’t seek the nomination deflate any Senate enthusiasm for impeaching him? Does Natvig have any strong political connections or skills of his own that will help him win votes at convention?

  35. Kurt Evans 2022-05-13 16:59

    Last week “grudznick” had written in the comments on another post:
    https://dakotafreepress.com/2022/04/06/ravnsborg-nearly-crashed-into-cops-with-inattentive-driving-in-pierre-huron-in-weeks-before-he-killed-boever/

    Oh, wait, there can’t be [debates between Jason Ravnsborg and Marty Jackley] because the trial has to occur the day before the meeting where they anoint Mr. Jackley.

    On May 8, I’d replied:

    Last year Lee Schoenbeck backed House Bill 1197 to deprive South Dakotans of the liberty to vote for an unlicensed attorney general. This year he’s arbitrarily stretching a complete suspension of the attorney general from 20 days to over 70. So apparently the voters can’t be allowed to elect an attorney general who delegates courtroom duties to his staff, but the unelected staff can be allowed to run the office entirely on its own for however long Lee Schoenbeck deems it politically convenient.

    Austin Goss got the scoop on David Natvig’s candidacy the following day. Maybe Natvig is running partly because Lee Schoenbeck’s scheduling of the trial prevents Jason from debating Marty Jackley.

    In the comments on that same post last week, Nick Nemec had written:

    Mr Evans I don’t think that Ravnsborg saw a man walking on the side of the road and decided to run him over …

    On May 8, I’d replied:

    That scenario would also be far-fetched, but not as preposterously far-fetched as Craig Price’s distraction-and-coincidence scenario.

    Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price alleges that some unknown “distraction” caused Jason to drive ten feet outside the white line at the very spot where the overdosed Joe Boever was supposedly “walking.” Maybe David Natvig is running partly to pressure Marty Jackley for his opinion of Price’s scenario.

    Nick Nemec had continued:

    … I do think that at some point that night before driving the sheriff’s car back to Pierre [Jason] knew exactly what he had hit.

    I’d replied to Nick:

    Yes, and you think Jason told premeditated lies to his closest friends that night, and to his dad, and you think he’s continued lying to all of them ever since, and most of them are so stupid they’re still falling for it.

    Over the course of many months, you’ve repeatedly suggested that Jason intentionally lied to the 911 dispatcher by claiming he didn’t know what he’d hit rather than seeking medical attention for Joe. Craig Price and Governor Noem seem to hold the same view. Have you changed your mind?

    Now Nick is insinuating above, in this current comment section, that I’m a mere gadfly floating “theories unsupported by the facts,” but he hasn’t answered the question. Has Nick changed his mind? Or does he still share Price and Noem’s view that Jason intentionally lied to the 911 dispatcher rather than seeking medical attention for Joe?

    Nick apparently thinks Jason told premeditated lies to David Natvig on the night of the crash, and he’s continued to lie to him ever since, and Natvig is so stupid he’s still falling for it. Maybe Natvig is running partly to defend himself from allegations like those.

    Cory writes:

    Kurt’s on something, but it’s not the topic.

    Maybe I need a clearer definition of the topic.

    I want to hear the voices in Ravnsborg’s and Natvig’s heads. What’s their plan? Will Ravnsborg announcing that he won’t seek the nomination deflate any Senate enthusiasm for impeaching him?

    The state senate made Lee Schoenbeck its leader, so I’m not expecting it to act rationally or predictably.

    Does Natvig have any strong political connections or skills of his own that will help him win votes at convention?

    David Natvig has a strong connection to the current attorney general and presumably the skills needed to determine whether his claim that Joe Boever was in the driving lanes is credible. If it is, both Marty Jackley and Governor Noem are probably in big, big trouble.

  36. Nick Nemec 2022-05-13 22:18

    Jackley and Noem in big, big trouble? Care to elaborate?

  37. grudznick 2022-05-14 07:48

    Na-Na-Natvig
    BuwahahaHAHAHAHA

  38. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-14 09:04

    Kurt, the topic here is what political game Natvig and Ravnsborg are playing.

    I assure you, Kurt, Lee Schoenbeck is keenly rational.

    Having a strong connection to Jason Ravnsborg does not lead to any conclusion that the connected person is particularly skilled at anything. I would suggest a connection to Ravnsborg suggests the opposite, that rather than being particularly skilled, the connected person is more likely a crony who bought his way into power with campaign donations and other favors. The Ravnsborg GOP is not a meritocracy; it is crony kakistocracy.

    In more than three years in office, Ravnsborg has done nothing to expose any corruption in the Noem Administration or during Jackley’s management of the AG’s office. He hasn’t brought charges against T. Denny Sanford. I don’t think we can point to a single instance of Ravnsborg waging any public investigation or filing any substantive charges against any powerful Republican for criminal activity or corruption. (Please do correct me if I’m forgetting any obvious cases.)

    Ravnsborg has no record of fighting the corruption that we all recognize plagues this one-party regime. He’s had over a year and a half to fight the attack he alleges Noem is making on him, and he hasn’t brought out any substantive information to weaken the Governor or Jackley. If Ravnsborg had the goods on Noem and if he had the intelligence and courage to deploy those goods, he’d have fired those guns the moment she started publicly attacking him (or, if he weren’t acting completely in his own political self-interest, far sooner, as an execution of his sworn duty to uphold the law and serve the people). He’d have put on the record information that would damage Noem’s standing, weaken he fundraising ability, and hamstring her longshot Presidential campaign. And he would have waged his war soon enough to help an ambitious Republican candidate mount a credible, sustained challenge to her in the primary. That primary candidate could have run against Noem’s corruption, citing all the evidence the Ravnsborg would release and the charges Ravnsborg could file against Noem and her cronies. That primary candidate would pull off an upset win in June and then would be obliged to thank Ravnsborg for his help by backing his renomination.

    If Ravnsborg had those goods, he’d use them.

    Instead, all Ravnsborg can come up with is having one of his campaign-donor-appointees run against Jackley for him. I laugh along with Grudznick at this feeble ploy by feeble minds who lack the ammunition and the courage to win a really bloody gunfight against the corrupt powers of their party.

  39. Bonnie B Fairbank 2022-05-15 18:13

    Cory: I initially overlooked your remark about Jason trying to protect his potential Army promotion and higher pension. Yes, I know he’s a light colonel in the Army reserves and spent (possibly) three years in nasty places on the globe, but don’t reservists, regardless of their exalted rank, have to maintain height/weight/physical fitness standards?
    No one with a pillow of fat from chin to sternum (worse than any goiter I’ve ever seen) is capable of physically serving in the military, even in the reserves. I was merely a Spec 4 Image Interpreter in the Regular Army and had to run two miles, do fifty (girl) pushups, and physically fend off sexual predators twice my size daily.
    Why the h*ck is Jabba the Hut still in the reserves?
    Also, why is Jason legally restrained from mentioning his wife and offspring?

  40. Nick Nemec 2022-05-15 19:20

    Ravnsborg has a wife and offspring?

  41. grudznick 2022-05-15 21:07

    Mr. Nemec, that would be a game changer. If Mr. Ravensborg, funny-looking as he is, has a wife and offspring, and then was dabbling with that one gal who threw him under the bus, that could really change Mr. Evans’ view on stuff.

    Mr. Evans probably frowns sternly downward on such business.

  42. grudznick 2022-05-15 21:12

    Mr. Nemec, in re-reading Ms. Fairbank’s blathering I would hazard she is half-a-bottle in. She mentions Jabba-the-Gant, who really has little to do with this business. She mentions Mr. Ravsnsborg’s wife, and offspring. Most know the truth in these matters, which don’t really bear on this issue. Funny looking or not, a 40 year old fellow should have his own privacies.

    And we have seen no legal restraints that cause Mr. Ravnsborg to behave one way or another.
    Half-a-Bottle in. I’m just sayin’

  43. Arlo Blundt 2022-05-15 21:19

    Well..to settle this whole Ravensborg thing, we need to call in the ghost of Broderick Crawford as Lt. Dan Mathews on Highway Patrol…he could wrap this thing up in five minutes, waddle over to his 55 Ford, turn on the light and peel out, as the final credits roll…end of drama.

  44. grudznick 2022-05-15 21:22

    Mr. Blundt, those who have suggested that grudznick is some sort of doppelganger for Mr. Crawford are gravy-ladenly mistaken, sir.

  45. David Bergan 2022-05-15 21:32

    Jason’s phone had been locked east of Highmore, and he wasn’t using it at the time of the crash.

    Hi Kurt!

    Could someone be distracted reading a text message or other notification on the lock screen of their phone without unlocking the phone?

    Kind regards,
    David

  46. Arlo Blundt 2022-05-15 22:24

    David–the answer is Yes and Ravensborg was distracted by his phone and had been for over an hour. The only question is: will the highly compromised Republicans in the Senate follow the leader and give him the boot.

  47. Kurt Evans 2022-05-15 22:25

    David Bergan asks me:

    Could someone be distracted reading a text message or other notification on the lock screen of their phone without unlocking the phone?

    Of course someone could, but the investigation found no evidence of any such notification, and no one reads a notification while transitioning between speed zones, and no one drives all four wheels across the rumble strip without noticing, ten feet outside the white line, because he’s reading a notification, especially not at the very spot where there’s a supposedly “walking” pedestrian who took nearly a month’s worth of the psychotropic drug lorazepam in less than 36 hours, disabled his truck by smashing it into a bale beside the highway hard enough to force the grille guard back into the grille, left town on foot after dark, didn’t ask anyone for a ride, declined a ride offered by a passing motorist, and never told anyone why he was out there.

    If the collision on the shoulder happened before Joe’s body went onto the car rather than after it came off, why didn’t his impact with the right side of the car angle it into the ditch? And why was all of the blood from the amputation on the bottom right side of the car, with none on the top?

    Maybe David Natvig is running partly because he sees no reasonable answers to those questions.

  48. Kurt Evans 2022-05-15 22:42

    Arlo Blundt writes:

    … Ravensborg was distracted by his phone and had been for over an hour.

    Jason’s phone had been locked east of Highmore, and he wasn’t using it at the time of the crash. He hadn’t even set the cruise control yet. The phone wasn’t unlocked until he unlocked it to call 911 approximately 16 seconds after the crash. Jason says he was transitioning between speed zones, looked at the speedometer, and struck something in the driving lanes.

    Maybe David Natvig is running partly because he believes the account of the crash given by Jason, who was there, and not the account given by Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price, who wasn’t there.

  49. Joe 2022-05-16 00:52

    Kurt: All signs point to Jason being straight. He’s never going to be your true love. Best you accept that reality and move on.

  50. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2022-05-16 07:30

    “wife and offspring”?! Bonnie, please substantiate and elaborate.

  51. Dana P 2022-05-16 07:54

    Kurt continues to show us that he refuses to acknowledge facts. Jason’s tire marks and point of impact, CLEARLY visible, shows his vehicle on the shoulder of the road. Not by an inch. Not by six inches. By a big portion of the vehicle where victim Joe Boever had every right to be walking. ( disputing the insane and cruel statement that Jason threw out as a Boever suicide attempt in the middle of the highway) Jason was driving recklessly and dangerously and caused the death of victim Joe Boever. This is not in dispute

    We all make mistakes. We all hope that our mistakes don’t lead to such tragic consequences. But when you do make a horrendous mistake with such horrible outcomes, it shows the character of a person who not only won’t own up to those mistakes, but will try to cover up and lie. And not have the humility to step aside from the job that they should not be holding.

    People that ignore evidence and defend such actions? Yikes.

    But to the point of Cory’s blog here. Jason continues to show his lack of character in his actions. Again. Still.

    South Dakota ‘values’ I guess. It’s nuts.

  52. Kurt Evans 2022-05-16 22:11

    Dana P. writes:

    Kurt continues to show us that he refuses to acknowledge facts.

    You’re the one repeatedly refusing to acknowledge facts, Dana.

    Jason’s tire marks and point of impact, CLEARLY visible, shows his vehicle on the shoulder of the road. Not by an inch. Not by six inches. By a big portion of the vehicle where victim Joe Boever had every right to be walking. ( disputing the insane and cruel statement that Jason threw out as a Boever suicide attempt in the middle of the highway) Jason was driving recklessly and dangerously and caused the death of victim Joe Boever. This is not in dispute

    The assertion that your collection of claims isn’t in dispute is absurd. I’m disputing it right now.

    Even by the account of Governor Noem’s DPS secretary Craig Price, Jason’s antilock brakes were working flawlessly, and there were no tire marks.

    I’ve been telling you that since mid March:

    https://dakotafreepress.com/2022/03/13/rob-burgess-impeachment-billboard-accuses-legislators-of-hiding-something-while-dils-hides-funding-organizational-status/#comment-418212

    https://dakotafreepress.com/2022/03/14/ravnsborg-refuses-to-respond-to-impeachment-committee-impeachment-session-resumes-april-12/

  53. Bonnie B Fairbank 2022-05-19 07:05

    Cory: While googling the average annual salary of a Reservist Lt. Colonel, I ran across a Wiki article entitled “Jason Ravnsborg Wife and Family: Facts To Know About.”
    One sentence states “Jason Ravnsbord (sic) never mentions his children or spouse’s details. In fact, his family maintains privacy after a serious legal case.”
    Given the misspelling of Ravensborg, I’m beginning to think the article was sketchy.

  54. Kurt Evans 2022-05-19 21:57

    Cory writes:

    I assure you, Kurt, Lee Schoenbeck is keenly rational.

    If you had an unsigned political statement written by Lee Schoenbeck and one written by Pat Powers, do you think you’d be able to tell which was which?

    If so, how?

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