Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ’ office potentially violated state laws on purchasing, state property and government records when it purchased a $19,000 lectern for the Republican governor that’s prompted nationwide attention, an audit requested by lawmakers said Monday.

Legislative auditors referred the findings in the long-awaited audit of the lectern to local prosecutors and the attorney general, and lawmakers planned to hold a hearing Tuesday on the report. The report cited several potential legal violations, including paying for the lectern before it was delivered and the handling of records regarding the purchase.

Sanders’ office, which has dismissed questions about the lectern, called the audit’s findings “deeply flawed” and a “waste of taxpayer resources and time.”

  • @ParabolicMotion
    link
    42
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    I’d be looking into what company manufactures that $19,000 lectern and then research who owns that company. There is a reason someone shells out that much money on a typically cheap item.

    Edit: Here is a link to the profile of the CEO of Beckett Events (company that sold the $19,000 podium). https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-beckett-3a940423

    • etceterar
      link
      fedilink
      283 months ago

      She “bought” the lectern from a friend of hers, then she and the friend took a trip to Paris with the money (is the word on the street in Little Rock).

    • FuglyDuck
      link
      English
      15
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      Lecterns aren’t inexpensive. A good one will go for 2-5k, easy.

      Though they are far from 19k. Iirc, the guy is a friend of the goobenor, and that one goes for line 500 on Amazon.

      • Flying Squid
        link
        103 months ago

        Though they are far from 19k.

        You’re leaving out the blue paint. That probably cost at least $10,000. It definitely doesn’t look like they got the cheapest color at Walmart.