Former State Senator and recently retired SDGOP Chair John Wiik has taken to Facebook to offer his own opinion on the Fox News story taking the Dakota Scout to task for their reporting on former Governor Kristi Noem’s travel, where they claim the former Governor spent over $600,000, but are refusing the Governor’s position that her spending was just over $2000 during her time on office.
The post on facebook is as follows:
Wiik stated “I’ve spent a lot of time on our state budget. 600 thousand dollars is pretty much impossible to hide in the state budget. I never believed the reporting on Governor Noem’s credit card use, and I want you to hear from her side before you cast judgement.”
The Dakota Scout responded to the allegations brought up in the Fox News story with their re-publishing of a story from Sioux Falls Live, by Patrick Lalley whom Dakota Scout owners Jon Ellis and Joe Sneve used to work under at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader:
The Scout’s co-founders, Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve, declined to comment on the letter, other than to characterize it as a “frivolous attempt to throw a brush off pitch” meant to stifle further reporting on the amount of spending on state-issued credit cards that took place during Noem’s tenure as governor.
“We stand by our reporting and consider it an honor to bring the truth about government spending to South Dakotans,” the longtime South Dakota journalists said in a joint statement, adding that more stories are likely. “And we’re always willing to defend it in a court of law, too.”
Give me a break. This is the same legislators that approved a paid trip to Hawaii for at least 2 legislators that were not going to be in Pierre the following year. In fact one broke body parts while on the wrong Island. The conference was on a different Island. I see no reason that any state employee, including the Governor is staying in luxary motels, having the state buy coffee at Starbucks, rent netflix in your room. What to be a big spender, then that should be your pocket, not the governments pocket.
The truth being Noem used the state credit card to promote Kristi Noem, not the state of South Dakota. As much as I wanted her to be who she said she was going to be, she was not. She has always campaigned for her next gig beofre the ink dried on the last ballot.
John Wiik was the former chairman of the party. Give him credit, he is still protecting the party. I would rather he was protecting the people,
Another talking head that talked Open Government but wants closed books. I wish I could say politics changed both, but I can’t, disappointed
Have you seen the receipts or just parroting a Noem-hating website?
Glad the Scout has finally gotten smart and ridded itself of Austin Goss. Goss was just dragging them down.
Goss moved to South Dakota only recently during COVID. In that short time, he’s been fired from Dakota News Now, arrested and pled guilty for disorderly conduct, and now has “parted ways” with the Dakota Scout.
Actually, all that happened in just the last 2 years
They didn’t “get rid” of him, he’s going to military training and then law school.
The military apparently takes anyone.
Guys, at least attempt to keep it factual..
Independent journalists like the Scout will bring integrity back to journalism. Noem never wanted this info released and now that it is she is grasping at straws. I look forward to the stories that have yet to come out. Let’s go Joe and Jonathan. Do the work and keep spilling the beans.
I wonder how she remembers what she spent money on well enough to say someone else is lying about it, but she couldn’t manage to remember which dictators she met with, even after she read her “own words” out loud…
If there is any truth to the Scout’s story, Noem is flirting with the Streisand effect here. Not even sure she cares, given her love of the spotlight.
The state auditor and treasurer could clear this up in a couple of seconds.
When young Mr. Goss is elected as the first competent treasurer in several decades, all information will be blogged. Until then, it will remain only rumor.
I don’t see any sign Goss is competent at anything, much less treasurer. Let’s see how he does at being a legislator or a county commissioner or something first. Or maybe hold a steady job.
Wiik is a spineless toady who does nothing other than enable bad behavior all around him. The party is better off without him. The only problem is even he, as cancerous as he was, was a significant upgrade to the imbeciles we have running the show now.
Maybe she paid for a bunch of stuff for Trump that he told her would be reimbursed. You know how he is with paying his bills.
Does anyone believe Fox? The worst accuracy of all the major media.