# Podiumgate (Arkansas) - how big a deal is this?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [October 7, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245 "2023-10-07T14:41:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/1 "2023-10-07T14:41:37Z")
Josh Marshall over at TPM posted this story a couple days ago about something that may or may not be a brewing scandal down in Arkansas.
[https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/lets-talk-about-podiumgate](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/lets-talk-about-podiumgate)
I’ll try to recap but it’s kind of convoluted so you probably just need to read the article. So, back in June, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders took a trade delegation to Paris to attend an aerospace trade show. A blogger/reporter filed a FOIA request afterwards for expense reports for the trip. At first they seem to be trying to block the FOIA request but eventually the guy gets what he requested.
As he’s going through the paperwork he finds an invoice or receipt for a $20K podium, which apparently may or may not actually exist. As he’s nosing around some more, the state GOP says “You know what? We’ll just pay for it.” Which doesn’t really make the questions go away.
Turns out the company who made the podium is owned by a BFF of SHS. Who, as people start digging through social media discover, was not only with SHS (along with a third woman) in Paris, out partying quite a bit, but they have also been seen together at many other government and social functions over the years.
Meanwhile nobody has actually seen the podium in question, so they release a photo of the podium, which looks suspiciously like a podium that SHS had been using previously.
So, it seems like there is something hinky going on that they may or may not be trying to cover up, but it’s hard to tell. And the story doesn’t seem to be getting much traction in the MSM, possibly because Trump is hogging all the air time. (Kinda makes me wonder if that’s why the GOP loves Trump so much - he makes a great smokescreen to distract from other GOP shenanigans going on around the country.)
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/2 "2023-10-07T14:47:01Z")
**Moderating:**
When come back, bring less acronyms.
TPM=apparently Talking Point Menu site.
SHS = Sarah Huckabee Sanders from context
FOIA = Freedom of Information Act after Googling and context.
BFF= I assume Best Friends Forever? Odd in this context.
GOP= pretty common.
MSM=???
So please translate or I will close this thread. Avoid this many obscure acronyms in the future.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/3 "2023-10-07T14:53:30Z")
I’m not the OP, but I can help. I didn’t even notice the use of acronyms, as I know or could immediately guess all of them.
TPM = Talking Points Memo (the publisher of the linked article)
SHS = yes, it’s Sarah Huckabee Sanders, as you guessed
FOIA = Indeed, it is Freedom of Information Act
BFF = yeah, Best Friends Forever
GOP = Grand Old Party, aka (also known as) the Republican Party
MSM = mainstream media
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/4 "2023-10-07T14:59:44Z")
Those acronyms were easy, except for maybe TPM for those who don’t frequently go to that site (it’s the best American politics news website, IMO).
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/5 "2023-10-07T15:01:56Z")
Discuss the OP, not the modnote.
It was far too many for one OP. I stand by my Opinion and I’m trying to curb such OPs from being written.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/6 "2023-10-07T15:02:17Z")
FOIA should be in everybody’s acronym word bank.
> **['Not a defense': Arkansas lawyer shreds Sarah Sanders' excuse for $19k podium...](https://www.rawstory.com/sarah-sanders-scandal/)**
>
> Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders is coming under more scrutiny following revelations that her office paid $19,000 for a podium.The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that there is nothing scandalous about the purchase because the state was reimbursed for...
> **[As ‘Podiumgate’ roils Arkansas, governor’s office accused of criminal cover-up](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/2/2196872/-As-Podiumgate-roils-Arkansas-governor-s-office-accused-of-criminal-cover-up)**
>
> One of the hallmarks of New Republicanism, the thing that Donald Trump so expertly latched onto, is an insistence on lying about everything, all the time, even in situations where the lies can ...
> **[Huckabee Sanders's $20,000 podium ordered, paid for, and never delivered](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/30/2196598/-Huckabee-Sanders-s-20-000-podium-ordered-paid-for-and-never-delivered)**
>
> Her podium could still be under construction and is still transitioning. Or perhaps the podium/lectern went to Paris with Katie Hobbs. Occupy Democrats @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: Trumper Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is caught in a...
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/7 "2023-10-07T15:25:05Z")
I am [shocked](https://apnews.com/3f7c417ae6c94c2c87c58f0367ea097f), _shocked_ to find out there is political corruption in Arkansas.
> **[Arkansas gets D- grade in 2015 State Integrity Investigation](https://publicintegrity.org/politics/state-politics/arkansas-gets-d-grade-in-2015-state-integrity-investigation-2/)**
>
> Arkansans have had good reason to be weary about the shenanigans of their public officials. In 2013, they learned that a state senator in Arkansas used campaign funds as a personal bank account, spending $8,000 on a home sound system, and $1,000 in...
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/8 "2023-10-07T15:34:28Z")
It’s a very small deal because $20K is a tiny amount of money when you are talking about political corruption.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/9 "2023-10-07T15:40:37Z")
But those nickels and dimes can add up to a bigger cauldron of corruption.
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### Author:  [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/10 "2023-10-07T15:44:34Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#):
>
> It was far too many for one OP. I stand by my Opinion and I’m trying to curb such OPs from being written.
[Original Post]
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/11 "2023-10-07T15:45:58Z")
While the podium payment shenanigans _may_ be the thread that unravels the sweater of suspicious payments that Sanders has directed to her buddy (we don’t know, just asking!). I don’t see this getting any real traction in the broader media or political sphere.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/12 "2023-10-07T15:48:42Z")
My apologies for all the acronyms. Jeez, I ought to know better – that’s one of my biggest gripes, when people start tossing around TLAs (three letter acronyms) and just expect everyone to know what they’re talking about. 🤦🏻♂️
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### Author:  [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/13 "2023-10-07T15:52:54Z")
Nitpick: it’s a lectern, not a podium.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/14 "2023-10-07T15:54:21Z")
Then it’s worth every nickel.
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### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/15 "2023-10-07T15:57:43Z")
What puzzles me is: Why would one would need to purchase a podium, or a lectern, for a trade mission to Paris? Do they travel with their own speechifying accouterments? What about, say, chairs, tables, and beds? I’m not sure they have those things in France, and no trade mission should be caught without them.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/16 "2023-10-07T16:05:13Z")
As far as the Podiumgate story goes, what I can’t figure out is why the podium purchase would have been buried in expense reports for a trip to Paris. Sanders obviously didn’t take it with her, or there would be photos of it from the trip.
There’s also a lot of weird timing issues. The state Republican party says they’ll cover the cost, but that only happens _after_ the Freedom of Information Act request. When the reporter questions why he didn’t get all the documentation, they claim that some of it was withheld for security reasons. When the reporter calls bullshit and sues for the information, Sanders calls a special session to further restrict the state Freedom of Information Act.
Plus, who can believe a word Sanders says? She learned at the feet of the Master. (Well, maybe two - her dad and Trump.) As my dad would say, she’s so full of shit her eyes are brown.
ETA: ninja’ed
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/17 "2023-10-07T16:06:02Z")
Paris has absolutely nothing but wine, chocolate, and dogshit. Everyone knows this. If you visit, bring a very big suitcase.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/18 "2023-10-07T16:19:37Z")
Bedbugs incoming to AR soon thx SHS
> **[Bedbug crisis sparks political row in Paris as insect ‘scourge’ continues](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/29/bedbug-crisis-political-row-paris-insect-scourge-continues)**
>
> Disgust spreads across country as travellers post videos apparently showing insects on Paris public transport
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### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/19 "2023-10-07T16:23:35Z")
Moderating:
> [@chela](#):
>
> Bedbugs incoming to AR soon thx SHS
This is a pretty tangential connection, to post a story about bedbugs in Paris in a thread about possible corruption in Arkansas. Please don’t do this.
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2023, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/podiumgate-arkansas-how-big-a-deal-is-this/991245/20 "2023-10-07T16:26:17Z")
Ah sorry was just riffing on the previous post about wine chocolate and dog poo
😬
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