by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones declared Friday (June 7) that he would not prosecute any charges related to a legislative audit of Gov. Sarah Sanders’ purchase of a $19,000 lectern and carry case.

Citing “insufficient proof of criminal conduct,” Jones said his review of the referral from the Arkansas Legislative Audit (ALA) released in April showed no proof of criminal violations of Arkansas law.

“[W]e find that there is insufficient proof of criminal conduct contained in ALA Report SP050123, A Special Report-Arkansas Governor’s Office- Review of Selected Transactions and Procurements or any of the supporting documents. Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct state that a prosecutor in a criminal case shall ‘refrain from prosecuting a charge that the prosecutor knows is not supported by probable cause.’ Therefore, no further action will be taken,” Jones said in a letter released to the media.

Prosecutor: ‘insufficient proof of criminal conduct’ in governor’s lectern controversy

From the Arkansas Advocate:

The investigation into Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ controversial lectern purchase and effort to shield records related to her security detail likely won’t be finished this year, the lead auditor at Arkansas’ nonpartisan agency that investigates government spending said Wednesday.

Sanders’ office drew widespread attention in September for the purchase of a $19,000 lectern and carrying case from a Virginia-based event design and management firm with political ties to Sanders.

Attorney and blogger Matt Campbell of the Blue Hog Report has spent months using the state Freedom of Information Act to report and scrutinize Sanders’ use of state funds and resources. He posted an invoice on X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 15 that showed the lectern was purchased in June. (Campbell is now a reporter at the Arkansas Times.)

Auditor: Investigation into Arkansas governor’s lectern purchase unlikely to end this year