Blue Hog Report
UPDATED: Panel OKs audit of Arkansas governor’s lectern purchase, some FOIA-exempt records
This story was updated at 10:33 a.m. Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Arkansas lawmakers on Thursday and Friday approved a request for a nonpartisan investigation into Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ purchase of a $19,000 lectern, as well as expenditures by the governor’s office that were recently made private by a new law. State Sen. Jimmy Hickey, […]
Emails support whistleblower’s claim that Arkansas governor altered public records, attorney says
Newly revealed documents indicate that Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office violated state law by altering public records, which aligns with accusations an anonymous whistleblower made last month, according to the person’s lawyer. Sanders’ office has been under scrutiny for several weeks for its spending decisions, particularly for purchasing a $19,000 lectern in June from […]
Governor: We still have questions about that lectern
Well. Well. Well. What we’ve got heah is … failure to communicate. That line from the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke resonates this week as we consider the continuing saga of our guvnuh’s fancy lectern, what the Wall Street Journal described Monday as “an unusual political scandal.” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders could have avoided the […]
Questions remain in ongoing scrutiny of Arkansas governor’s purchase of $19K lectern
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her staff this week continued to defend her office’s purchase of a $19,000 lectern, which has been widely criticized on social media and is the subject of an upcoming legislative audit, but many questions have continued to go unanswered. Why was the lectern so expensive? Did members of the […]
Whistleblower’s attorney claims Arkansas governor’s office altered, withheld public records
An anonymous whistleblower claims Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office improperly altered and withheld public records related to ongoing scrutiny of the office’s spending, according to the whistleblower’s attorney. Rogers-based attorney Tom Mars sent a letter Friday to state Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, offering his client’s testimony and documents to aid a requested legislative audit. […]
‘Podiumgate,’ ‘Lecterngate’: No matter what you call it, it’s a questionable mess
If we lived in a better world, we’d all be willing to believe the governor’s spokesperson when she says the purchase of a $19,000 lectern with a state credit card was an “accounting error.” Of course, we don’t live in that world. We live in a world where the purchase of a platform for giving […]
Arkansas officials’ security records shielded from public under altered FOIA law
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law Thursday altering the state’s Freedom of Information Act, one of her stated goals of the special legislative session she called for this week. Senate Bill 10, which passed the Senate on Wednesday and the House on Thursday, shields from public access all records and communications concerning the […]
Bill to shield Arkansas officials’ security records moves forward
Arkansas lawmakers’ third attempt this week to alter the state’s Freedom of Information Act advanced in both the House and Senate on Wednesday. House Bill 1012 and Senate Bill 10 would exempt from FOIA all records and communications concerning the planning or provision of security services to the governor and other state elected officials. The […]
Lawmakers offer narrower change to Arkansas FOIA after bipartisan pushback
After two days of bipartisan backlash against proposed changes to Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act, lawmakers late Tuesday filed narrower legislation to exempt information related to security services provided to the governor and other state officials. It’s the third attempt in as many business days to alter the state’s 1967 public records law. The first […]
Lawmakers, public await promised replacement for controversial Arkansas FOIA legislation
UPDATE: Senate President Pro Tempore Bart Hester late Monday night introduced a new version of the bill to add exemptions to the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. It can be read here. This week’s special session of the Arkansas Legislature, expected to be a smooth-sailing three days, hit a major snag on day one when […]
A chance at unity devolves into political division and recrimination
Could the Little Rock mayor’s race come down to how the city administration handled a contract for a party — and how the administration responds to public records requests? The drama that has played out at City Hall, on Twitter and in the media the last three weeks kept getting stranger and stranger as a […]