Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R)’s staff came under bipartisan criticism after legislative auditors found that her office may have breached the law by purchasing a $19,000 lectern and mishandling official paperwork concerning it.
According to a 68-page audit made public on Monday, Sanders’s office allegedly broke state law by destroying a document that should have been kept and managing the acquisition process improperly. The audit noted purported infractions such as prepaying for the lectern and inconsistent record-keeping over the acquisition.
The transaction, which came with a state credit card and cost more than $19,000, was eventually reimbursed by the Arkansas Republican Party.
The investigation mentioned that three versions of the lectern invoice were found in the governor’s office, and two of them had handwritten annotations on them indicating that staff members had manipulated public documents. One of the three invoices “looks to be a copy of the original” and does not include the handwritten addendum “to be reimbursed” for Sanders’ executive assistant Laura Hamilton’s initials LH, the audit reads.
The governor’s office was advised by the report to make sure that purchases are paid for after delivery, to “retain all original documentation” pertaining to purchases and deliveries, to dispose of property in accordance with state legislation, and to make sure that documentation is finished on time.
Sanders refuted claims of fraud and denounced the conclusions as “deeply flawed,” maintaining that the transaction was lawful. “A handwritten note on an invoice, absent a false alteration, is not a violation of law,” according to Sanders’ office’s response to auditors, which Sanders’ deputy chief of staff Judd Deere reiterated on Tuesday.
The audit conclusions were sent to the state attorney general and the prosecuting attorney for the Sixth Judicial District.
Furthermore, legislators authorized another investigation into “significant expenditures involving the governor’s office” that Act 7 of 2023 prevented the public from seeing.
