Arkansas Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is under considerable scrutiny due to the purchase of a custom $19,000 lectern by her office.
The custom-made blue wood-paneled lectern was acquired with a government credit card in June and became the center of attention after lawyer and blogger Matt Campbell posted the invoice for it on X, formerly known as Twitter, last month.
This revelation sparked a controversy over the high cost of the lectern, which is significantly more expensive than similar ones on the market.
Earlier this week, Campbell revealed that an employee with the Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services (TSS) had sent an email in which it was explicitly stated that an invoice for the lectern had been "altered."
The invoice for the lectern was paid to an events company called Beckett Events LLC. Notably, the founder of this company was once a lobbyist in the Washington, D.C. area.
The controversy surrounding the lectern escalated when records released this week disclosed that the Arkansas Republican Party had reimbursed the state for the item in mid-September. The reimbursement coincided with Campbell's filing of a Freedom of Information Act request for Sanders' travel and expense records.
In response, Sanders has characterized the purchase as an "accounting error" and expressed her willingness to undergo an audit. Her spokeswoman issued a statement saying the controversy had been "manufactured... by left-wing activists to distract from the bold conservative reforms the governor has signed into law and is effectively implementing in Arkansas."
An anonymous whistleblower accused Sanders' office of altering records to cover up the purchase and withholding documents, in violation of the law. Campbell posted photos of the invoice he received, which showed that the words "to be reimbursed" were added later.
He said the purchase was clearly an "intentional one" made with state funds. The lectern, he said, "is not worth 1/10th that much that they thought they would cleverly use their credit card for, only to then commit AT LEAST one crime to cover it up when it was discovered."
He also shared pictures of both the original and altered invoices.
The first looks like any other invoice and clearly shows that a payment of $19,029.25 was made.
@BlueHogReport/X
The second, however, shows that the words "To Be Reimbursed" had been added after the fact.
@BlueHogReport/X
Sanders had previously requested changes to the state's Freedom of Information Act, citing concerns about her family's safety. She accused those requesting government records of undermining transparency and interfering with her conservative agenda. While lawmakers partially approved her proposed changes, a state legislative panel is expected to vote on the audit later this week.
Many have condemned her for abusing the powers of her office.
Since taking office in January, Sanders has further entrenched herself with the far-right, most notably by launching an aggressive campaign against Arkansas schools and the LGBTQ+ community within them.
One of her appointments, Jacob Oliva, known for implementing Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law, now leads the Arkansas Education Department. Sanders wasted no time in signing a law that prohibits transgender teachers and students from using bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identities.
Additionally, she approved a comprehensive 145-page education overhaul that provides teachers with a modest pay increase of $2000 per year but simultaneously muzzles their ability to discuss topics related to gender identity or sexual orientation and issued an executive order targeting "indoctrination" by forbidding teachers from discussing critical race theory in classrooms.
