Arkansas’ chief legislative auditor expects to complete a report on the investigation of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ purchase of a $19,000 lectern by the end of next month, but it’s unclear when the report will be made public.
Auditors began investigating the controversial purchase immediately upon approval from the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee on Oct. 13, Lead Auditor Roger Norman told the panel’s executive subcommittee Thursday. Investigators have interviewed 20 people and will be done with “field work” next week, he said.
“We have sought to gather all relevant communications and financial records surrounding the purchase and the reimbursement of the podium,” Norman said. “Currently, the audit special report is in the draft stages. Barring no delays in the finalization process, we anticipate a final report by the end of March.”
Auditors will provide the report to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee co-chairs Sen. David Wallace of Leachville and Rep. Jimmy Gazaway of Paragould, both Republicans. Wallace and Gazaway can then decide whether to release the report early at a special committee meeting, which can be called by either co-chair or by 10 committee members, or to present it at the committee’s next scheduled meeting in June, Norman said.
Gazaway said he will decide how to present the report upon reading it. Norman declined to answer questions from reporters.
Sanders’ office drew widespread attention last year for the purchase of the lectern and carrying case from a Virginia-based event design and management firm with political ties to Sanders. In October, Arkansas Legislative Audit, the state’s nonpartisan agency that investigates government spending, took up a request to investigate both the purchase and Sanders’ effort to shield records related to her security detail.
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Sanders and her spokeswoman have called the saga a “manufactured controversy” and said they welcome the audit.
Attorney and blogger Matt Campbell, who is now a reporter for the Arkansas Times, used the state Freedom of Information Act to scrutinize and report Sanders’ office’s spending last year. On Sept. 15, he posted an invoice on X (formerly Twitter) that showed the 3% processing fee of $554 on a state-issued credit card brought the $18,475 lectern purchase to a total of $19,029.
The Republican Party of Arkansas wrote a check to Sanders’ office for the cost of the lectern on Sept. 14, the same day Sanders signed a law adding exemptions to the FOIA after a special legislative session. The new Act 7 of 2023 shields certain state officials’ security records from public access; Sanders initially supported more exemptions, which met bipartisan opposition in the Legislature and from the public.
Later in September, state Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, requested that Arkansas Legislative Audit look into the lectern purchase and “all matters… made confidential” by Act 7. Hickey later narrowed the second part of the audit request to “significant expenditures involving the governor’s office.”
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On Sept. 29, two days after Hickey requested the audit, Rogers-based attorney Tom Mars said he represented an anonymous client who can “provide clear and convincing evidence” to the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee that Sanders’ office altered and withheld FOIA-accessible records.
According to Arkansas law, violating the state FOIA is a Class C misdemeanor, and tampering with public records that are not court records is a Class D felony.
On Oct. 10, Campbell posted an email on X that indicated Laura Hamilton, Sanders’ executive assistant, was instructed to alter the invoice for the lectern shortly before Campbell received it via FOIA request.
Lawmakers approved Hickey’s amended audit request three days later.
