Sarah Huckabee Sanders Sued For Alleged Violations Of State's Open Records Laws

A blogger in Arkansas has filed a lawsuit against governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders this week, alleging that she is violating the state's open records laws by refusing to turn over information that was formally requested. The blogger alleges that Huckabee Sanders' office has committed four violations of the records laws, most of them related to the shielding of information about the now-infamous $19,000 lectern that Sanders purchased earlier this year. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders office as the governor of Arkansas is now being sued by a lawyer and blogger, who just a month ago actually sued police in the state of Arkansas for not complying with records request. Um, this new lawsuit is of course, related to that infamous $19,000 lectern that Sarah Huckabee Sanders purchased. 'cause she said, I need this $20,000 lectern. And then it became a huge scandal. They wouldn't say where the money came from. They wouldn't, you know, release any of the details about the delivery of it, which was weird in and of itself. And now she's like, well, then I'm just not even gonna use it. But you're also not returning it. So you just wasted $19,000 because you immediately took office and apparently got drunk with power. Oh, and for the record, Matt Campbell, the lawyer and blogger who sued her office this week, he is basically the guy who has exposed all of this. So, uh, kudos by the way to Matt Campbell because you have done a phenomenal job of exposing, exposing, excuse me, I'm having a lot of trouble speaking today, folks. Um, Matt Campbell's done a phenomenal job of exposing the corruption that has just completely encapsulated Sarah Huckabee Sanders first year as governor of Arkansas. It's insane. It is genuinely crazy how much corruption that inexperienced hack has brought to the governor's mansion in the state of Arkansas. But let me read this.

Uh, Campbell filed the suit Tuesday alleging four violations of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act when the Governor's office denied a records request. He submitted on Monday, Campbell sued back in September, Arkansas State Police and ASP director, Colonel Mike Hagar over the agency's refusal to release records related to travel provided to the governor by the ASP plane. Campbell says he requested all emails since January to or from addresses linked to Brian Sanders, the first gentleman, Brian Sanders, outlook calendar, and the bills of lading or other shipping and delivery documents connected to the controversial lectern. In a separate request, Monday, Campbell also asked for emails. The Governor's office sent to anyone making a FOIA request. Since January, according to the complaint, um, the governor's office says, listen, because you're asking for records of Brian Sanders, you know, this is directly connected to the governor's office, and these are unpublished memoranda that you're asking for. Therefore, they're actually exempt from FOIA laws. That's what the Governor's office said. Well, Matt Campbell's not an idiot. In fact, he's a very intelligent individual. So Matt Campbell has countered in his lawsuit saying, yeah,

You're right. There is an exemption for employees of the governor's office. Do you know what Sarah Huckabee Sanders husband is not? He is not an employee of the governor's office. Therefore, he's not subjected to the, to the, uh, uh, uh, exemption. So you're trying to hide records from the governor's husband claiming that he works as part of her cabinet, even though he doesn't. Which actually kind of brings us to another thing that should be a bigger scandal because Brian Sanders chairs the Natural State Advisory Council, which is a group created by the governor to promote outdoor recreation and tourism.