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.)
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
