The Mitchell Daily Republic has more on the Joel Koskan story, having obtained the probable cause statement before it was sealed via an order of the South Dakota Office of the Attorney General.

And if you thought the story couldn’t get worse, you’d be wrong.

A woman told investigators that, from age 14 through 19, Koskan was constantly monitoring her via surveillance cameras and GPS and would “require” the girl to engage in sexual activity with him.

The investigation was spurred May 6, 2022, when a retired DCI agent contacted county and state investigators seeking assistance in a sexual assault investigation involving a 19-year-old woman who is related to Koskan. According to the retired agent, the woman disclosed that Koskan had been “raping her since she was a young child.”

and..

“You promised you’d never do this,” Koskan texted. “I’m begging you, you don’t want to do this.”

and..

In a Thursday email to Forum News Service, South Dakota GOP Chairman Dan Lederman focused on the severity of the allegations, adding that the party is against all forms of child abuse.

“The allegation against Joel Koskan is very serious, and the South Dakota Republican Party unequivocally opposes child abuse in all forms,” Lederman said. “The South Dakota Republican Party trusts the justice system to work through the allegation.”

Read the entire story here.

I’m sure there will be more coming on this..

Court documents filed in the case against District 26 State Senate Candidate Joel Koskan illustrate that this case may be far worse than the early reports made it sound. And it sounded pretty bad before.  Dakota Scout has followed up to their earlier story, and according to court documents filed today, the prosecution is using the term “sexual grooming” in conjunction with the horrible allegations:

The Attorney General’s Office is alleging that Joel Koskan, a 44-year-old Republican candidate for state Legislature in District 26, sexually groomed a minor over the course of six years, according to a criminal compliant made Thursday in Mellette County. The charge is one count of exposing a minor to foreseeable harm, a class 4 felony that could land Koskan behind bars for up to 10 years.

The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation investigated the case, which involves a victim who is now 20 years old and was allegedly groomed by Koskan starting in 2014.

Read it here (Subscription required).

The thing is, this is alleged to have gone on since 2014. So, the prosecution is saying it went on during the time while Koskan was a candidate for legislative office in 2018 and 2020.   I think it goes without saying that if convicted, Koskan would be ineligible from being seated. According to the State Constitution:

§ 4.   Disqualification for conviction of crime–Defaults on public money. No person who has been, or hereafter shall be, convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime, nor any person who has been, or may be collector or holder of public moneys, who shall not have accounted for and paid over, according to law, all such moneys due from him, shall be eligible to the Legislature or to any office in either branch thereof.

Read that here.

While not specific, i think “infamous crime” would cover this, and also according to the constitution, each house gets to determine who is and who is not qualified.

His family are awfully nice people, especially his parents, and I can’t imagine what they are going through as more and more revelations are made in the case, including more details coming in open court, as noted in the article.

I’d ask that you offer your prayers for the victim and the family, but it goes without saying, if not seemingly a bit trite. Maybe you should offer your prayers for an adequate measure of justice and healing. Because it seems that in cases like this, those involved never seem to see a sufficient amount of either.

Kristi for Governor Campaign Launches New Ad: “Dream On”

 SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA – Today, the Kristi for Governor campaign launched a new ad, “Dream On,” which details what Jamie Smith could do on his first day as Governor if given the opportunity to enact his liberal agenda.

“Imagine what I [Jamie Smith] could do on my first day as Governor,” the ad dreams. “Taxes, I’ll raise them. Girls’ sports, open them up to men. Vaccine mandates, done. Guns, we’ll take them. But I definitely won’t do anything about illegal immigrants. My buddy, Joe, will be pretty proud of me.”

Every extremist policy position included in the ad is consistent with Jamie Smith’s voting record. To find more information on that record, visit JamieandJoe.com.

“Jamie Smith is too extreme for South Dakota,” said Ian Fury, Communications Director at Kristi for Governor. “The people of South Dakota deserve a governor who will defend our South Dakota way of life and stand up to Joe Biden’s liberal agenda – and they have that in Governor Kristi Noem.”

###

From Facebook – Governor Kristi Noem has posted photos if you weren’t there to see it in person..

Joe Sneve over at the Dakota Scout is reporting tonight that District 27 Republican Senate Candidate Joel Koskan is under investigation in a child abuse sex probe:

Joel Koskan, 44, is set to be arraigned on charges next week, Mellette County Sheriff Mike Blom said. Blom said the case is open, and he referred questions to the clerk of courts, where a complaint is expected to be filed on Thursday.

and…

Legislative candidates within the GOP were alerted of the pending charges Wednesday. Senate President Pro Tempore Lee Schoenbeck acknowledged the matter but would not be commenting.

“What I will say is that we’re aware of it and we’ll let it play out in the courts,” said the Watertown Republican.

Read the entire story here. (Paid subscription required).

There are no words at the moment.  I would agree with Senator Schoenbeck that we all need to wait and see what’s going on. But it’s more than troubling to say the least.

Gov. Noem and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard Hold Rally in Rapid City

SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA – Today, Governor Kristi Noem and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard held a rally for the Kristi for Governor campaign in Rapid City. The event was set up for 600 attendees, but the event became standing room only due to the high demand for attendance. You can find pictures of the Rapid City rally here.

“The Democrat Party has become a party that has thrown our Constitution in the trash,” former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said at the rally. “Governors serve as a check and balance on federal mandates that are being pushed and forced on the people. There is such a clear contrast and a clear choice for voters here in South Dakota between Kristi Noem’s leadership and her opponent. He will basically be a rubber stamp on whatever the Biden Administration wants to impose on people here in South Dakota.”

“It matters who sits in leadership positions – they impact our lives every single day,” Governor Kristi Noem said at the rally. “Tulsi Gabbard is absolutely fantastic and a woman of integrity. She’s a patriot and a freedom fighter, and I’m honored to have her support.”

While serving in Congress together, Kristi Noem and Tulsi Gabbard were friends and workout buddies despite their different partisan affiliations.

Governor Noem and Tulsi Gabbard are hosting another rally this evening at 6pm CT at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance. You can sign up for the Sioux Falls event here.

###

The Secretary of State contest has continued to heat up since Monae Johnson’s interview where she was pressed by KELOland about whether she is an an election denier, with a clip of the interview now finding it’s way into a commercial that’s been running on the air for her Democrat opponent, Tom Cool:

The ad marks a rare instance of a constitutional contest getting negative and combative, but it remains to be seen whether the latest entrant into the political wars from the Democrat opponent can rise above the static from the races higher up the totem pole. That’s one problem with going negative a week before the election.. who is listening at this point? By now people have been subjected to weeks and weeks of commercials, and it’s just more noise.  Tom Cool likely doesn’t have the cash to bring the issue to the level of awareness that it needs to be. It’s a minor hit, but it’s still a hit.

The “election denier” controversy in the Secretary of State’s race does bring up another point. Who is running Monae Johnson’s campaign? Because at this point, I question whether they lack any campaign intelligence whatsoever. Tom Cool has long been known as just an awful a placeholder candidate for Democrats, losing in his last 5 or so times at bat. But Monae Johnson’s stumbles have given his people a rare something to grab on to in a Constitutional race.

I’ve read at least two interviews since the infamous KELOland ‘election denier’ interview.. and all the interviewers want to talk about is whether she’s an election denier. So Monae is forced to address the question again, and again, and again, keeping the media cycle on the hit against her alive with life it might not have otherwise.

With a week to go, the smart thing to do would be for Monae to quit doing interviews. The only publicity she’s getting from those is not helping her. The damage is done, so she needs to quit giving the story daily CPR.

If she would do that, she can probably ride the GOP wave of the election through to the finish line.

South Dakota’s Senior US Senator, John Thune has an Op Ed in the Wall Street Journal today pointing out how the Biden Administration plans for the Internal Revenue Service, and warns taxpayers to choose carefully this next Tuesday. Because it may come back to haunt them if Democrats are allowed to continue unchecked:

Few differences between Democrats and Republicans are sharper than their approaches to the Internal Revenue Service. Republicans believe the IRS’s priorities should be fairly administering the law and keeping Americans’ interactions with the agency simple and few, which was a central achievement of our 2017 tax-reform law. Democrats seem to value revenue above efficiency or accountability and are intent on creating a far bigger and more intrusive enforcement-focused agency. With the narrowest of majorities they have implemented radical changes to the IRS while refusing to provide accountability and oversight. If Republican majorities take Congress, that will change.

Like the Obama IRS, President Biden’s has been marked by political bias, management failure and a lack of accountability.

Read the entire story here.

Maggie Seidel, a former Senior Advisor for Governor Kristi Noem was said to be active in working behind the scenes for unsuccessful District 24 Republican House Candidate Mary Weinheimer in Pierre this last June. And now the Argus Leader is reporting that Seidel has founded a local chapter of conservative lobbying group “Moms for Liberty.”

Maggie Seidel confirmed in an email to the Argus Leader that she’s the chapter chair of South Dakota’s new and only Moms for Liberty chapter, based in Hughes County, where Pierre is the county seat.

and..

Across the nation, Moms for Liberty chapters and other local PACs have driven interest in school board races, endorsing and raising money for candidates, many of whom rejected mask mandates in the wake of COVID-19 or opposed race-based education, according to USA Today.

Read the entire story here.

With the passing of Kitty Werthmann this last July, noting that Kitty led lobbying efforts for conservative women’s group the Eagle Forum which has not sent a lobbyist to Pierre since 2020, this may be an organization that attempts to fill the void for conservative women.