Final week, Alexa Henning, Gov. Sarah Sanders’ most overpaid liar communications director, finally responded to the growing questions about Sanders’ purchase of an $18,475 lectern from Beckett Occasions, LLC.
Kind of.
I imply, Henning acknowledged that there was a purchase order, which all of us already knew. However then she claimed that an “accounting error” is what brought on the lectern to be bought with state funds as a result of, in response to Henning, it was meant to be paid for by the Arkansas Republican Celebration with leftover inaugural funds.
Since that point, a number of individuals have requested Henning to elucidate simply what sort of “accounting error” results in a $19,000+ buy on a state bank card that doesn’t get reimbursed for over three months, till an extremely good-looking blogger began poking round and asking questions. Even though nobody has seen the alleged lectern, people are getting louder about questioning the purchase in general, and a few rationalization of the alleged “accounting error” would possibly truly make the scandal die down, Henning has (predictably) provided completely zero further details about the lectern or the error.
Contemplating this administration’s normal sample is to disclaim wrongdoing, then lie about what occurred as soon as it’s clear that nobody believes the preliminary denials, it most likely gained’t shock any of you to be taught that the complete e mail path in regards to the lectern makes one factor completely, indisputably clear: there was no “accounting error.”
On Might 11, 2023, Laura Hamilton, Gov. Sanders’ government assistant, emailed Jason Hogland, Controller in the Fiscal Division of the Arkansas Division of Transformation & Shared Companies, asking about how “y voucher invoices work”. (The short answer, for anyone wondering, is available here.)
Hogland responded lower than 10 minutes later, explaining that y-voucher invoices are for good/providers acquired previous to the tip of the fiscal 12 months (June 30), however which weren’t paid previous to the tip of that fiscal 12 months.
Hamilton, realizing that that is precisely the alternative of what the Governor’s Workplace wants (since they wish to pay for the lectern previous to the tip of the fiscal 12 months, although the lectern gained’t be acquired by then), replies lower than a minute later with one other query, whereby she mentions having “a customized podium on order” that they need wish to pay for previous to June 30, and she or he floats the thought of getting the seller invoice the state to allow them to pay previous to supply.
Hogland, who understands how state buying works, replies a number of moments later, explaining that the state can’t pay for the lectern “till it is available in.” He then asks how a lot the lectern1 will value and wonders aloud if the lectern “ought to be [classified as] an asset”?
Lower than three minutes later, Hamilton responds that it ought to be labeled as an asset and that it’s going to value “round 10K.”
Editorial Apart #1: As of Might 11, the estimated worth was “round 10K”? However, lower than a month later, the lectern value $18,475. Even Joe Biden’s inflation can’t clarify that sort of worth bounce.
Anyway, a minute or so later, Hamilton emails Hogland a second time, noting that “they” (the Governor’s Workplace) “needed to make use of transition cash for this buy” because of the value. So…yeah. It’s already going to be laborious to assert that this was an “accounting error” when, by your personal admission, you deliberate to make use of one pool of cash for it because of the value after which simply…didn’t.
Just below three weeks later, on Might 31, Hamilton once more emails Hogland to notice that they’ve “pricing on a customized podium [sic] for the governor.” Nevertheless, the “vendor” that they selected to make use of requires fee up entrance…
Editorial Apart #2: Previous to this buy, Beckett Occasions had no entries as a vendor on the Arkansas Transparency web site, nor does it seem as a vendor that Sanders did any enterprise with on her campaign-finance studies. So when precisely did “the governor and Judd…use[] this vendor earlier than” such that they might have the ability to approve of Beckett’s customized lectern manufacturing?
ANYWAY, a few half-hour later, Hogland responded. Notably, in his Might 31 response, Hogland didn’t merely reply to Hamilton. He additionally blind-copied China Simon, who was Chief Monetary Officer of TSS on the time, and Cassie Cantlon, Fiscal Help Supervisor at TSS. On this e mail, Hogland once more defined that the state couldn’t pre-pay for gadgets.
Hogland’s e mail did provide an answer, nonetheless: the Governor’s Workplace might get a purchase order order for the lectern, after which the funds can be launched when the lectern was acquired. Identical to actually everybody else can be anticipated to do on this scenario. Is smart, proper?
A bit later, Hamilton replied, noting that their workplace would “get the data to get a PO going.”
Narrator: They by no means truly obtained a purchase order order going.
The next morning, shiny and early, Hogland emailed Hamilton once more. On this e mail, he reiterated that, if the lectern was not delivered by July 1, it must be paid for out of the fiscal 12 months 2024 finances.
The next day, nonetheless, it seems as if the final concept that the Governor couldn’t pre-pay for an merchandise had been discarded. June 2, 2023, is when Hogland emailed Hamilton once more, this time asking about “the quantity of the rostrum and who’s [sic] buy card will probably be used” to pay for the lectern.
Lower than 20 minutes later, Cassie Cantlon (fiscal help supervisor at TSS) emails Alex Johnston (chief of employees at TSS), China Simon (then-CFO at TSS), Hogland, and Darlene Hicks (procurement employees at TSS) concerning a rise within the spending restrict on Hamilton’s state-issued bank card, elevating the restrict from $20,000 to $25,000.
Lower than every week later, on June 8, Beckett Occasions–which isn’t in any approach a producer, wholesaler, purveyor, or middle-man for lectern purchases, no less than in response to their very own web site–points an bill for $18,475 for a “Customized Falcon Podium,” together with taxes and delivery, plus $554.25 as a 3% credit-card charge.
Editorial Apart #3: So…which is it? On Might 11, you stated you had the lectern “on order” (although you didn’t know the suitable worth) and needed to pay for it with “transition funds,” however the vendor required pre-payment. But June 8 is the primary time Beckett truly created an bill in search of fee of any form or referencing an order being positioned. Not sketchy in any respect….
On June 12, Hamilton lastly tried to pay for the lectern together with her lately elevated credit score restrict, however she bumped into issues utilizing the cardboard. So she emailed Cantlon (fiscal help), Hogland (controller), Simon (CFO), and Johston (CoS) at TSS, asking who might assist launch the tried buy.
Lower than ten minutes later, Cantlon emails “OSP Credit score Playing cards,” with Hicks, Simon, Hogland, Johnston, and Hamilton copied, instructing whomever screens that e mail account to approve Hamilton’s $19,209.25 expenditure manually.
That fee went by way of on June 12.
Simply over every week later, at 4:30pm on June 20, Hamilton emails Cantlon to ask how the acquisition ought to be coded within the state accounting system. At this level, Judd Deere, deputy chief of employees for Governor Sanders, and Jordan Powell, Governor Sanders’ Director of Public Affairs, get added into the combo, together with Simons (then the CFO of TSS).
Editorial Apart #4: At this level, even when we wish to fake just like the Governor was unaware of what her administrative assistant (Hamilton) was doing, we now have two individuals (Deere, Powell) who’re near the Governor being looped in on this lectern buy. Any suggestion that the Governor was unaware of the acquisition being made with state funds dies on or about June 20.
The next day, with the deadline to allocate credit-card fees coming quickly, Hamilton once more emails the identical individuals, making an attempt to determine how this ought to be entered. I suppose it’s harder to do such issues once you’ve paid almost $20k on a state bank card for a product that has but to be delivered.
Cantlon explains it to Hamilton by way of e mail a short while later.
Cantlon then (apparently) talks to somebody named Jason at TSS, so she emailed Hamilton a follow-up lower than 10 minutes later, telling Hamilton particularly which accounting code to make use of. And, within the sort of fiscal administration you can solely get from people who find themselves really afraid of upsetting the Governor, we get some pleasant kicking of the can down the highway so far as how this capital outlay will probably be dealt with sooner or later.
On July 3, seemingly unrelated to the lectern scenario (however nonetheless related to it), Gov. Sanders comes out in support of Joseph Wood, who was then director of TSS, as the next chair of the Republican Party of Arkansas.
Humorous factor about shopping for one thing on a state bank card, although. Finally, a invoice for that credit-card buy will are available, and a few people whose jobs contain coping with state bank cards are going to succeed in out to ensure the spending was legit (and, presumably, to cowl their very own butts for any involvement they could have had in sure purchases). Which brings us to Cassie Cantlon’s e mail to Laura Hamilton on July 24…
asking whether or not the Governor’s Workplace had ever acquired the lectern that they paid $19,029.25 for after being instructed that they couldn’t pre-pay for it within the first place.
And, in what is likely to be the sketchiest e mail despatched or acquired on this whole string, Hamilton–who incessantly emails with TSS, ASP, and others about any whim that may cross the Governor’s thoughts–decides that Cantlon’s July 24 e mail wants a phone dialog, not a written response.
“Are you able to name me on this one?”
August 14 is the final day of emails that we acquired pursuant to earlier AFOIA requests (although a further request for different emails stays excellent). However we are able to say for sure that, after that date, you will have Joseph Wood elected chair of the ARGOP (August 19), Sanders loyalist and famous shady operative Leslie Fisken appointed head of TSS to exchange Wooden (September 5), and the ARGOP’s chopping a test to “reimburse” the state for the lectern.2
Which brings us to September 21, when Alexa Henning spouted off (repeatedly) about an “accounting error” that “was found.”
You’ve got almost two dozen emails between the governor’s employees and monetary employees at TSS, discussing a number of completely different eventualities for ordering, receiving, and paying for the lectern in query. You’ve got the governor’s administrative assistant particularly asking for and receiving a rise within the spending restrict on her state bank card, totally in order that she might pre-pay for the lectern. You’ve got the lectern being paid for, with a state bank card, by the governor’s administrative assistant, on June 12, 2023.
You’ve got the remainder of June passing with out a single individual saying something in regards to the buy being made with state funds.
You’ve got all of July passing with out a single individual questioning using state funds (apart from to ask if the lectern had been acquired), and never one individual saying something about an accounting error.
You’ve got all of August passing with out anybody questioning the acquisition, mentioning that the ARGOP was truly presupposed to pay for the lectern, suggesting something about an accounting error, or elevating the slightest query in regards to the fee to Beckett Occasions for a lectern that nobody has seen.
And, worst of all, you apparently have all of this time passing with out the lectern being acquired (no less than as of the tip of July), with out it being assigned a state stock quantity, and with out a single doc being produced (regardless of requests) that will present {that a} lectern had truly been delivered.
Certainly, it was not till after we brought this issue to light on Twitter that the governor’s workplace (or anybody else) stated something in regards to the buy. Even then, the very best they might muster, almost every week after the story broke, was having the least-believable individual within the Governor’s whole employees mumble one thing about “accounting error,” with out rationalization, earlier than hiding behind “however the ARGOP reimbursed the state.”
This buy might have been many issues–fraudulent, shady, questionable, unwise, poorly documented, exorbitant, silly–however what it completely, positively was NOT was an “accounting error.”
Phrases have which means, regardless of how a lot Alexa Henning seemingly needs they didn’t, and getting your credit score restrict elevated so that you could purchase the governor a toy that she simply HAS to have earlier than a purchase order order would get it to her just isn’t an “accounting error” by any stretch of the creativeness.
Getting a jellyfish like Joseph Wooden to chop an ARGOP test to the state after the actual fact doesn’t change the definition of “accounting error” or make the acquisition any much less questionable.
***
Associated to the above, in addition to the Governor’s normal disdain for transparency, we’ve launched a GoFundMe if you would like to help underwrite the cost of multiple AFOIA lawsuits against the state based on the Governor’s attempts to hide records.
#Podium #Pandemonium #Lectern #Blue #Hog #Report