South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg Faces Republican Revolt On Impeachment Over Killing Joe Boever

Not for his freedom, but for his political career. And the danger comes not just from longtime enemy of Governor Christie Noem, but from a growing strip of his own Republicans, who dominate the state legislature and face a key step next week in deciding whether to oust him. Republican politician Charlie Hoffman told the Daily Beast on Friday that he was “on the fence” about whether he would accuse Ravnsborg of killing Joe Bover two years ago, but was now determined to do so. A presentation by South Dakota Highway Patrol soldiers last Wednesday offered new details about how reckless Ravnsborg driver changed his mind, Hoffman said. “After seeing the long time Mr Boever’s body was in the AG car with his head in the window of the AG car and then flying hitting the middle of the lane behind the AG car, leaving bone fragments in the “and slipping in the ditch at 65 mph changed my mind,” he told The Daily Beast on Friday morning. “I now have incontrovertible evidence that AG knew exactly what he was hitting and lied to investigators and the Hyde County Sheriff.” When asked for comment, Mike Deaver of Salt Lake City, who has served as Ravnsborg’s spokesman, did not immediately comment on the growing pressure on AG. “Out of respect for the legal process, to those who work to ensure that the system is fair and just to the family, AG Ravnsborg has not spoken openly about the court or the current proceedings,” Deaver said. “He believes in the rule of law and in the people and the processes that led to the current conclusions. “The attorney general has promoted the work of the state and will continue to support the process and the elected officials who lead this legislature.” South Dakota Patrol soldiers John Berndt and Sergeant Kevin Kinney said they believed Ravnsborg had left the north lane and was on the side of the road when he struck and killed Boever just before 10:25 p.m., Sept. 12. . 2020. Ravnsborg had spoken at a Lincoln Day dinner, an annual Republican rally, in Redfield, SD that night, and was returning to Pierre, the state capital. After the crash, Ravnsborg called 911, saying he had hit something “in the middle of the road” but did not know what hit. Only later was it revealed that Boever’s face went through the Ravnsborg windshield and his broken glasses were found inside the vehicle. The soldiers said Boever was in the vehicle for at least 100 feet before landing on the side of the road, with one leg amputated. He died from a collision. Ravnsborg insisted he had no idea who or what hit him, at least initially, but law enforcement investigating the crash has disputed that. “The collision area was so far from the roadway that it took him so long to stop, as we described,” Berndt said Wednesday. “The amount of evidence found in the vehicle and around the scene of the collision – we do not know what happened, we just know it was not normal.” Boever’s body was not officially discovered that night. County Sheriff Hyde Mike Volek, who lived nearby, answered the 911 call and admitted in a 2020 interview with investigators that he did not search much on stage. Volek, who died in November 2021 while visiting a friend in North Carolina, lent his personal car to Ravensburg to complete the one-hour drive back to Pierre. The next day, the attorney general returned to the scene and reported the discovery of Boever’s body. In particular, he told the sheriff, who alerted state officials. The fatal accident immediately became a major issue in South Dakota and became national news. After months of criminal investigation, Ravnsborg – who never appeared in court – was charged with only three misdemeanors. As part of an objection agreement, he asked not to challenge two small charges, was fined $ 1,000, was paid $ 3,000 in court costs. and was instructed to promote safe driving. He reached an unknown agreement with Boever’s widow. Governor Noem led the effort to oust Ravnsborg from office despite being a member of the same party – and Ravnsborg posted a photo of them together on his website for the 2022 re-election. after the accident, but he refused. He later asked him to resign or the legislature to accuse him. Instead, he shoots for another four years. Initial hearings for the referral began in February 2021, only to end after Noem released two Ravnsborg videos giving lengthy interviews with agents of the North Dakota Crime Bureau. They helped to process the case to maintain some apparent impartiality, as the South Dakota Criminal Investigation Department reports to the Attorney General. (South Dakota Highway Patrol agents who have been so critical are referring to Public Safety Secretary Craig Price, a Noem-appointed man who says he thinks Ravnsborg is not fit to take office.) Referral proceedings resumed during the 2022 legislative session and Parliament Speaker Spencer Gosch appointed a nine-member special committee to investigate the fatal accident. Agents in North Dakota told the commission they strongly believed Ravnsborg knew he had hit a man on September 12, 2020. However, on March 28, after a secret meeting for more than three hours, the committee voted 6-2 not to propose the referral. But a full report from the Ministry of Public Security on the epic was released on April 4. Revealed further information about Ravnsborg’s driving record. Perhaps most striking: two recently discovered near-failure vehicle law enforcement vehicles, as described in detail in the reports of the officers involved. This, combined with the briefing of the Highway Patrol two days later, seems to have given new impetus to the AG eviction effort. Mr Hoffman said he had beaten animals several times, including a deer, a rabbit, a raccoon, gophers, a mourning dove, pheasants and a rooster. It was always very obvious what happened, he said. “I knew immediately what was happening to me,” Hoffman told The Daily Beast. “I knew it every time.” Hoffman was one of many state officials who told the Daily Beast that the top lawmaker was facing a legitimate prospect of ousting him. In order for Ravnsborg to be referred and forced to a trial in the State Senate, despite the fact that the committee recommended it against him, 36 of the 70 delegates must vote in favor of referring to the first such hearings in the history of the state. This would force a lawsuit in the state Senate. State lawmaker Fred Deutsch, a Conservative Republican from Florence, told the Daily Beast that he too now supported the referral. “It was probably the hardest decision I had to make in my life,” he told The Daily Beast. Pierre GOP spokesman Will Mortenson has been seeking referral since the legislature first addressed the issue in February 2021. He has repeatedly told reporters he believes the attorney general should step down, and Deutsch has told him said Mortenson, a Republican, was prepared to request a referral Tuesday. Mortenson did not respond to requests for comment. “I expect a vote,” Deutsch said. “I really do not have a sense of how the vote will turn out except that I expect it to be close.” Rapid City’s representative Tim Goodwin is to the advantage of the House GOP. He also supported the referral for some time and said he believed Ravnsborg knew exactly what had happened that night – “beyond the shadow of a doubt”. Even when their plans to vote for the referendum were not openly advertised, more Republicans were increasingly open about not being sure how to vote. The ambivalence suggests that the attorney general’s firewall with the support of the GOP – even among former skeptics – may be in jeopardy. Brookings Republican spokesman Tim Reed told the Daily Beast he wanted to see a referral vote, even if he had not decided on his own. “If the referral articles are brought before the Plenary Session of the Parliament, the wording of the resolution is crucial for my final decision. “I believe that the articles of the referral should be put in the Plenary Session of the Parliament for a vote”, said Reed. “AG’s actions around the accident concern me and most South Dakota residents and AG should be held accountable,” he added. Fort Pierre’s spokesman Mike Weisgram is also struggling with the decision. “This issue was very taxing and making a firm decision was (and continues to be) very difficult,” Weisgram told The Daily Beast. “I read the data provided by the Parliamentary Select Committee, saw the presentation on public safety, asked many lawyers and law enforcement friends, talked to my lawmakers friends and prayed for instructions on my forthcoming referral vote. “At times, I thought I had decided, but as I think and challenge my conclusion, I give up.” Similarly, Aberdeen spokesman Carl Perry was having a hard time. Perry told the Daily Beast he was “on the line” about the referral – and that he told a voter who called him on Friday that he would decide after hearing speeches in Parliament on Tuesday. Less than shocking, Democrats who responded to a Daily Beast canvas with state representatives – there are eight Democrats in the 70-member House – all favored Ravnsborg’s referral. MP Ryan Cwach, a Yankton lawyer, served on the House Inquiry Committee, which voted 6-2 on party lines not to propose a referral. Cwach wrote the minority report in favor of removing the attorney general and said he believed all Democrats would vote for Ravnsborg’s referral. Representative Shawn Bordeaux of Mission, representing District 26A, said he was in favor of the referral – but was not optimistic that Ravnsborg would face that penalty. “I guess the …