Kristi Noem secretly accepted huge sum of money from mystery donor - then failed to declare it: report

Independent

2 days ago

While serving as governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem received $80,000 from an anonymous donor – significantly boosting her government wage – but later failed to declare it, according to a new report.
Noem, who now heads up the Department of Homeland Security, received the funds from a nonprofit called American Resolve Policy Fund, a so-called dark money group, which is not required to disclose the names of its donors, in 2023.
According to the report by ProPublica, Noem then failed to disclose the payment. After becoming head of the DHS, she released detailed accounting of her assets and sources of income from 2023 on, but still failed to include the sum, which would significantly boost her government wage of $130,000 a year.
Experts told the outlet that such failure is likely to be a violation of federal ethics requirements.
The Ethics in Government Act requires high-ranking federal employees to file financial disclosure reports, so as to identify and avoid potential financial conflicts of interest. Failure to properly disclose information can lead to fines, referrals to the U.S. Attorney General, or other disciplinary action.
'If donors to these nonprofits are not just holding the keys to an elected official's political future but also literally providing them with their income, that's new and disturbing,' Daniel Weiner, a former Federal Election Commission attorney, told ProPublica.
Documents show that in 2023 the $80,000 was transferred to a Noem's personal company, an LLC called Ashwood Strategies, which is incorporated in Delaware.
American Resolve raised $1.1 million in 2023, according to its own tax filing. In that filing it described the $80,000 sum given as a payment for fundraising, and said that Noem herself had brought in thousands of dollars, per ProPublica.
Documents showed that American Resolve had sent Noem's company 10 percent of a total $800,000 raised that year.
American Resolve reported that it had zero employees in 2023 tax filings.
The Independent has reached out to Noem and the DHS for comment about the payment, and the reason as to why it was not included in her disclosures.
In a statement shared with ProPublica, Noem's lawyer, Trevor Stanley, said, 'Then-Governor Noem fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law,' adding that the Office of Government Ethics 'analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity.'
Stanley did not respond to further questions from the outlet about whether the OGE was specifically aware of the $80,000 payment from American Resolve.
Noem described her company Ashwood Strategies as involving 'personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity.' She noted that the company received the $140,000 advance for her book 'No Going Back.'