Author: @SoDakCampaigns

Governor Noem Issues Statement on Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s Plea Agreement

PIERRE, S.D. – Today, following South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s plea of “no contest” to charges against him regarding the death of Joseph Boever, Governor Kristi Noem issued the following statement:

“With today’s plea, Jason Ravnsborg’s legal proceedings have concluded.  Like many South Dakotans, I am not only disappointed in how this process was handled by prosecutors, but outraged at the result of today’s plea hearing and sentencing.  Ravnsborg has not accepted responsibility for the death of Joseph Boever and did not even appear in court today to face the charges or the Boever family. ”

Speaker of the House Spencer Gosch said in March that the House would wait until after “the judicial system is able to do its job” to proceed with articles of impeachment against Ravnsborg. The South Dakota Sheriff’s Association, the South Dakota Police Chiefs Association, and the South Dakota Fraternal Order of Police previously called on him to resign.

“If Ravnsborg does not resign, as I believe he should, the Legislature can and should consider the articles of impeachment already brought in the House,” continued Noem. “I have therefore instructed the state Department of Public Safety to provide Speaker Gosch a complete copy of the investigation file in the coming days to assist the House in its important work.”

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Statement by Jason Ravnsborg
August 26, 2021

On September 12, 2020, two families were changed forever.

First and foremost, I am very sorry Joe Boever lost his life in this accident. I am sorry to the entire family for the loss of their loved one. They have had to deal with the pain, anger, and sadness of this accident.

With respect for Joe, his family, and the judicial process, I have fully cooperated with the investigation from the beginning and refrained from making statements to the media.

While nothing I say will bring Joe back, I believe it’s appropriate to share a few of my thoughts at this time.

Joe’s death weighs heavily on me and always will. I’ve often wondered why the accident occurred and all the things that had to have happened to make our lives intersect. I’ve wished thousands of times our paths would have crossed under different circumstances.

The media has reported many untrue, and misleading things they want you to believe are facts.  Partisan opportunists from both sides of the aisle have manufactured rumors, conspiracy theories and made statements in direct contradiction to the evidence all sides agreed upon.  These are the same people who try to take others down at any cost.

I ran to be your attorney general because I believe in the law; I believe in fairness, due process, and doing what’s right. Now, having experienced the legal system from both sides, I renew my commitment to be transparent and responsive to the needs of the people of South Dakota.

We have built an incredible team of hard-working professionals who seek to serve you in the Attorney General’s office each day. We’ve made significant accomplishments in record time.

We still face challenges. We will continue the dialogue about marijuana and how to regulate it. We’re finalizing the terms of the $26 billion opioid settlement to address opioids and fentanyl and still battling the meth epidemic.

I do not know all the Lord has in store for me, but I trust in Him. As I continue my service as your attorney general, I’ll keep fighting for you, just as I have since the day I took office. May God bless each of you, and may God continue to bless South Dakota.

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After some comments via his show which were derisive of Governor Kristi Noem, claiming she was only popular because of her looks, and not her policies, South Dakota Governor absolutely owned conservative commentator Matt Walsh in her response:

Instead of engaging in a debate about the proper role of government and how it isn’t conservative to tell people how to do business, @MattWalshBlog
stooped to horrible misogyny.

Eyes up here, Matt. pic.twitter.com/n5xO0uVsaf

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) August 25, 2021

“Eyes up here Matt”

That was pretty good.

Another day, another candidate for US Senate who nobody has ever heard of.

Patrick W. Schubert Sr. of Box Elder has sent out a letter, and set up a website to run for US Senate at www.retiretherino.com. Or at least, he set up a Facebook page, and linked a domain to it.  And if you click on it, you’ll be treated to a couple of rants.

At least one of them is really, really long, too. In part:

Information is coming out that the January 6th event at the Capital was a pre-planned event by our governments law enforcement apparatuses to destroy the opposition to their election theft. It was a slanderous attack on those who only wished to preserve the Republic. There is over 10,000 hours of video covering every inch of the Capital Building that has been stored away under lock and key. They will not release it because it will be more incriminating than other video releases up to now.

Blue State after Blue State refuses to fully release their people from Corona virus restrictions. They mass executed the sickest. They destroyed the base of their economy, small businesses. They levied fines on business owners in the millions of dollars. The people have no recourse to fight this modern tyranny.

and..

Current and former members of our government, in my opinion, are funding ANTIFA and other violent protests against the fiber of America’s existence. These people also have spoken out against fascism while their actions prove fascism is their goal, except with them in charge. The Democrat party has turned Immigration into infiltration for the purpose of securing electoral victories while denying us the right to a secure voting system by requiring ID to vote while they repeatedly flood districts with illegal voters and re-voters. Alabama is the example of this. The video of the young man saying he was brought from another state to vote against Judge Roy Moore is appalling and evidentiary.

Our government executed a plot across all offices, agencies and unofficial back channels to prevent the election of Donald Trump as President as soon as he announced he was running. When he won, these assets were moved to a destroy his Presidential Administration. They used a bio weapon from China. They used a Climate Change agenda violated by China. They claimed Russian interference while the Democratic Candidate’s son was taking checks from Russia and China. This is a blatant coup by American, Domestic Enemies, and hostile foreign nations.

Read the rant here!

The Rapid City journal is also covering it.

Both candidates share a sense of dissatisfaction that Thune did not support overturning the 2020 election results in favor of former President Donald Trump.

Gov. Kristi Noem Issues Statement on Attacks in Afghanistan

Today Governor Kristi Noem released the following statement in response to the attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan:

“Like many South Dakotans, I have seen the reports of the terrible attacks in Kabul, Afghanistan. We are still learning the full scope of the damage, and the number of those injured or killed, but the Pentagon has confirmed Americans are among the casualties.

“Let me first say that my thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Afghanistan – Americans and Afghans alike. My heart breaks for the families who lost loved ones and friends today and those who were injured in these attacks.

“As we learn more details over the next 24 hours, one thing will be clear: these attacks are a result of the Biden Administration’s reckless failure to secure the situation before withdrawing troops. How we respond will come to define the Biden-Harris Administration for a generation. The world is looking to America for its leadership in the face of a cowardly attack on our military and allied forces helping evacuate refugees from the Hamid Karzai Airport.

“To those South Dakotans who served in Afghanistan, I want to say thank you.  To the families of the seven South Dakotans who died serving in Afghanistan – and the 36 total who were killed fighting the War on Terror – I want to say that your sacrifice in service to our country was worth it. America is safer because of you. Afghan women and children have an example of freedom because of you. We stand with you and thank you for your service. And we are here to serve you.”

Information about the Veteran’s Affairs Department and services to veterans is available atvetaffairs.sd.gov or call 605-773-3269. Veterans in crisis can call the hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or send a text to 838255 to receive free, confidential support.

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The news this morning is dominated by the court case involving South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg, and the traffic accident which cost the life of Joe Boever.

Through his attorney Tim Rensch, Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has reached a plea agreement with the prosecution and has pled “No Contest” to 2 misdemeanor traffic violations, for using a mobile device while driving east of Highmore, and for driving out of his lane. The third charge, of Careless Driving, was dropped by the state.

For these violations, Judge John Brown imposed a sentence of $500 for each of the two counts, plus court costs, as well as imposed investigation fees of $3750 in the matter.

The Judge also remarked that he wanted to impose a duty of making a public service event at or near the day of Boever’s death for the next 5 years, but Ravnsborg’s attorney Rensch contested the legality of this requirement as it extends beyond any potential probation time. The determination on this part of the sentence will be coming later and will be made public as part of Judge Brown’s written decision.

The family of Boever has already signaled their intention to pursue the matter in civil court in a wrongful death lawsuit.

From Facebook:

If you haven’t been vaccinated against COVID yet…. Just saying.

Might not be the worst idea in the world.

Governor Noem Appoints Lynn Jensen to Transportation Commission

PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem has appointed Lynn Jensen to serve on the South Dakota Transportation Commission.

“Lynn’s extensive experience has proven his ability to build consensus and work together towards a solution,” said Governor Kristi Noem. “He knows transportation from his business experience. And he has worked in agriculture, South Dakota’s most important industry, which our transportation industry supports.”

Jensen graduated with a degree in Agricultural Production from Lake Area Tech in 1982. He served as President and Co-CEO of the National Corn Growers association in 2000, State Director of USDA Rural Development from 2001 to 2005, and was appointed by President Bush to be the USDA’s liaison to FEMA during Hurricane Katrina recovery in 2005. He has served on the board of several non-profit and for-profit organizations and currently serves as the Vice President of the American Aronia Berry Association.

Jensen has been the owner and operator of several businesses, including Jensen Transportation, where he served as president from 1996 to 2010. Jensen owns and operates a farm that has been active since 1980.

A photograph of Jensen can be found here.

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Governor Kristi Noem continues to push out a message that she will not be mandating what individuals and businesses have to do during the COVID pandemic. late this morning, her Communications director Ian Fury underlined that with a message tot he state’s media:

Folks,

I wanted to make sure you saw this message from Governor Noem on the question of banning business vaccine mandates.

As President Biden plans to mandate vaccines for nursing homes and pressure businesses into mandating vaccines for their employees, Governor Noem is ready to fight back. If President Biden illegally mandates vaccines, she will take every action available under the law to protect South Dakotans from the federal government.

But some want her to push legislation that would ban businesses from mandating vaccines for their employees. At face value, it sounds like a nice idea. After all, Governor Noem would agree that businesses shouldn’t be instituting these policies for their employees. But it isn’t in her authority to tell businesses how to operate. Frankly, if such an action were in her authority, then it would be in Biden’s as well. It isn’t; thank God for that.

Conservatives know this conversation well. We had a very similar one regarding the Masterpiece Cakeshop case just a few years ago, when liberals tried to tell cake bakers how to run their business. We had another similar fight when liberals tried to tell nuns and Hobby Lobby that they must provide contraception for their employees.

It’s wrong when government oversteps its authorities to tell people how to do business. It’s wrong when the Left does it, and it’s wrong when the Right does it.

Governor Noem knows that people are frustrated — that they don’t want their employer telling them what to do. Frankly, she doesn’t think that businesses should be mandating their employees to be vaccinated, either. And if they do mandate vaccines to their employees, they should make religious and medical exemptions available.

But she doesn’t have the authority as Governor to tell them what to do.

Since the start of the pandemic, she has remained focused on what her authorities are — and what they are not.

South Dakota is in a strong position because she didn’t overstep her authority. She didn’t trample on the rights of our people. She was the only Governor in the country who never ordered a single business or church to close. And she’s not going to start now.

When leaders overstep their authority, that is how we break this country. If government starts acting unconstitutionally — even if it’s doing something that we like — that is a dangerous path to walk. It will lead to the destruction of our Constitution and our nation.

We must be a nation of laws. And government must be constrained by the Constitution.

It’s not conservative to grow government to tell businesses what to do and how to treat their employees. Remember what President Reagan said: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Governor Noem’s focus will always be this: ensuring South Dakota remains a great place to live, work, raise a family, and do business. If she starts telling South Dakotans how to do business, it will destroy the Freedom that made South Dakota’s economy the strongest in the nation.

Best,

Ian Fury
Communications Director
Governor Kristi Noem (SD)

@IanTFury

What are your thoughts?

Think about this… if I have the ability to dictate vaccine policy to businesses, then so does @JoeBiden.

Thank God neither of us do.

— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) August 25, 2021