Tag Archives: South Dakota

The Daily Beast reports: Kristi Noem, once the GOP’s shining star, now seems to be trying to find any way to insert herself into the conversation. Noem posted a photo on her official government Facebook last week of a car parked at Mt Rushmore with a message scrawled on the window that said its owner had “escaped communism” and “returned …

The Daily Beast reports: South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg is claiming the man he ran over and killed—allegedly while scrolling through his phone on highway at night—wanted to die. In court documents filed Friday, the state’s top lawman claimed victim Joe Boever was depressed and suicidal and may have thrown himself in front of his car as he drove …

Politico reports: Rep. Adam Smith, chair of the House Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday that he would press Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin about reports that the governor of South Dakota accepted private donations to fund the deployment of National Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border. When asked about Gov. Kristi Noem’s move during an interview on NBC’s “Meet …

Talking Points Memo reports: The auto scrap billionaire who is funding South Dakota’s deployment of national guard troops to the U.S.-Mexico border told TPM in an interview that he was making the contribution because “this President would rather help other countries than help America.” “I fought in Vietnam and a lot of my buddies died over there,” Willis Johnson told …

Axios reports: A Tennessee billionaire and high-dollar Republican donor is funding the deployment of South Dakota National Guard troops to the U.S. Mexico border. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who’s gaining attention as a possible 2024 presidential contender, made a splash on Tuesday with an announcement that she was deploying an unspecified number of National Guard troops to the border …

Via press release from South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem: Today, Governor Kristi Noem announced that up to fifty South Dakota National Guard troops are being deployed to Texas to help the secure the border between the United States and Mexico. This is in response to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s request for help to respond to ongoing violations of state and …

The Argus Leader reports: South Dakota’s attorney general wants to keep cameras and audio recording devices out of the courtroom when he goes on trial in connection with the death of a man along a Hyde County highway. Jason Ravnsborg faces three misdemeanor charges related to his driving the night he struck and killed Joe Boever. A court document recently …

Fox News reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem sued the Biden administration on Friday after it canceled the Independence Day fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore, demanding the court “expeditiously” issue a permit for the event to take place. Noem, a Republican, filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota Central Division. Last year, South …

The Argus Leader reports: South Dakota is home to an estimated 5,000 undocumented immigrants. But Gov. Kristi Noem says those people along with any migrants right now in custody of the federal government at the southern border are not welcome in South Dakota. “South Dakota won’t be taking any illegal immigrants that the Biden Administration wants to relocate,” the first-term …

The right wing Daily Caller reports: “Governor Noem is very used to fighting off criticism from the left,” Noem spokesman Ian Fury said in a Wednesday email. “After all, in the past year, she was the only governor in the entire nation to never order a single business or church in her state to close. The left bullied her incessantly, …

Axios reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) will continue her efforts to celebrate Independence Day with fireworks at Mount Rushmore despite the Biden administration’s refusal to grant her request. Why it matters: Noem’s push to ensure the fireworks comes amid a number of concerns about coronavirus spread, wildfires and tribal sovereignty — the monument is carved into land sacred …

Law & Crime reports: Embattled South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg on Friday pleaded not guilty to three misdemeanors related to a deadly car crash in Sept. 2020. Ravnsborg struck and killed Joseph Boever, 55, but claimed he thought he hit a deer. Boever’s body wasn’t discovered until the next day. Investigators confronted Ravnsborg, a Republican, with evidence he was …

The New York Daily News reports: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said on Monday that she’s “excited” to sign a bill banning transgender girls and women from participating in sports teams that correspond to their gender identity. Her remarks came just moments after South Dakota became the second U.S. state this year, after Mississippi, to pass legislation targeting transgender sports …

The Associated Press reports: Family members of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem received more than $600,000 in funds from a state grant program pushed by the governor that directed federal coronavirus relief funds to small businesses. A ranch belonging to Noem’s family, Racota Valley Ranch Partnership, received one payment of $500,000, and a business operated by her brothers, Rock and …

USA Today reports: North Dakota investigators were skeptical that South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg didn’t know he fatally struck a pedestrian on the night of Sept. 12, 2020. According to video footage from two separate interviews between investigators and Ravnsborg, made public Tuesday by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, authorities found the reading glasses of Joe Boever …

The Daily Beast reports: South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg will, in fact, be criminally prosecuted for killing a man with his car last fall. But the top law-enforcement official in the state ducked more serious felony charges in connection with the fatal crash. On Thursday, a Hyde County prosecutor broke more than five months of silence after the Sept. …

The Daily Beast reports: South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem used a state airplane to shuttle her around the country to right-wing political events, racking up huge bills on the taxpayer dime as the GOP darling traveled to events hosted by, among others, the NRA, Turning Point USA, and a Las Vegas confab put on by the Republican Jewish Coalition. Noem …

Newsweek reports: A South Dakota judge overturned a voter-approved constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana on Monday. Amendment A would have legalized marijuana for recreational use and was approved by over 54 percent of South Dakota voters last November. Republican Governor Kristi Noem, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, opposed the legalization effort and moved to reject the amendment …

The Rapid City Journal reports: Gov. Kristi Noem said in an executive order Friday that she directed the Highway Patrol superintendent to bring a lawsuit against the voter-approved amendment legalizing marijuana after her spokesman previously told the Journal she hadn’t. “On Nov. 20, 2020, I directed Colonel Rick Miller to commence the Amendment A litigation on my behalf in his …

The Argus Leader reports: President Donald Trump is calling on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to challenge fellow Republican Sen. John Thune in his 2022 primary election, despite the governor already saying she will seek re-election of her governorship instead. Noem’s been an ardent supporter of Trump’s during the presidential campaign, making several speaking appearances and fundraising stops for him …