Latest news with #AmericanResolvePolicyFund
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Kristi Noem failed to disclose $80,000 received while South Dakota governor
The US homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, failed to disclose $80,000 that she accepted while serving as South Dakota's governor, according to a report published on Monday. The investigative news website ProPublica said that tax records from 2023 show Noem was paid the sum by a group listed as American Resolve Policy Fund – but it has never made it on to her public ethics disclosures. Noem was paid for helping the group – which does not disclose its donors – to fundraise, but the non-profit, a so-called dark money group, went on to run social media attack ads targeting local news outlets that had reported on her alleged misuse of taxpayer funds while serving as governor. The homeland security secretary, who was assigned a leading role in the immigration crackdown and related deportation efforts that Donald Trump has helmed since returning to the presidency in January, has developed a reputation for an opulent lifestyle. As South Dakota governor in 2021, on a salary of $130,000, Noem spent $68,000 installing a sauna, chandeliers and rugs in the governor's mansion, according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. She was sued in March 2024 by the consumer advocacy group Travelers United over a social media video promoting a dental practice named Smile Texas. The lawsuit alleges Noem failed to disclose any potential financial relationship with the Texas dental practice, and the Instagram video was not correctly labelled as an advertisement. More recently, Noem raised eyebrows when she wore a gold, $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch while visiting El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot), the prison that is holding alleged Tren de Aragua members deported from the US. Noem also made headlines when her Gucci handbag containing $3,000 in cash was stolen from a Washington DC restaurant. ProPublica does not assert that Noem broke campaign finance laws in receiving the payment from American Resolve Policy Fund. Lawmakers helping non-profits and other political groups fundraise is not uncommon. But it is not common practice to be rewarded for doing so. 'There's no way the governor is supposed to have a private side business that the public doesn't know about,' Lee Schoenbeck, a longtime Republican attorney and lawmaker, told ProPublica. 'It would clearly not be appropriate.' The Associated Press reported in March that while Noem campaigned for Trump as South Dakota governor, the state picked up some expenses. That included trips to Palm Beach, Florida, from where Trump was then managing his victorious 2024 presidential campaign. The outlet reported that over her six years as governor, South Dakota covered more than $640,000 in travel-related costs incurred by the governor's office – including a $7,555 air fare for a six-day trip to Paris to speak at a political event – and costs associated with a bear hunt in Canada with her niece. Those expenses, reported on by the Dakota Scout, incensed some members of her party. Dennis Daugaard, a former Republican South Dakota governor, said that the costs to taxpayers in service of raising her national profile 'offends a lot of people'. Taffy Howard, a Republican state senator who sparred with Noem over her expenses, said it 'seems like an incredible amount of money'. But the AP cautioned that there was 'no indication' that the former governor had broken any laws by having the state foot her security expenses. 'Unfortunately, bad guys tend to make threats against high-profile public officials,' Noem's then spokesperson, Tim Murtaugh, said. 'When it was a political or personal trip, she paid for her own travel out of her political or personal funds.' The latest questions concerning Noem's relationship with American Resolve Policy Fund, a group that describes its mission as 'fighting to preserve America for the next generation', reflect how some quarters may view personal brand-building, via product marketing opportunities, as part of a contemporary political career. Trump, for one, has fostered that approach. In a statement to Politico, Noem's lawyer, Trevor Stanley, said that the former South Dakota governor 'fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law'. Stanley said that the US office of government ethics, which processes disclosure forms for federal officials, 'analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity'. According to ProPublica, Stanley claimed that Noem 'fully disclosed all of her income on public documents that are readily available' but did not respond to further questioning.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Noem fires back after $80K 'dark money' payment allegations
Donald Trump 's Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem has fired back after it emerged her company received $80,000 from a fundraising group while she was governor of South Dakota. Noem's company was paid $80,000 by a nonprofit she had helped raise $800,000 for, according to tax records reviewed by ProPublica. Critics called the arrangement 'disturbing' and pointed to a South Dakota law that the governor should 'devote (their) full time to office' and 'compensation (be) limited to salaries.' However, Noem's lawyer Trevor Stanley, in a statement to the Daily Mail, said she had 'fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.' He added: 'During her confirmation process, the Office of Government Ethics analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity. Secretary Noem has fully disclosed all of her income on public documents that are readily available, and she has made all required filings at the state and federal level. 'In fact, the only reason this story exists is because individuals were able to examine publicly available documents.' Records for the nonprofit, American Resolve Policy Fund, an organization that backs Noem, showed the $800,000 had been taken in from 'fundraising' activities. ProPublica described the nonprofit as a 'so-called dark money group' because it was not required to disclose the identities of its donors. The records showed 10 percent of the money raised was then paid to Ashwood Strategies LLC. Noem was the managing member of Ashwood Strategies, which was incorporated in Delaware in June 2023. When she became President Trump's Homeland Security Secretary, Noem filled out a detailed financial disclosure form. On that form, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she said Ashwood Strategies LLC had taken in money for 'personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity.' She added that the money had not been passed on to her. Income she reported for Ashwood Strategies was 'solely received by the LLC; I did not receive any personal income or other distributions from the LLC,' Noem wrote. The form also revealed that Ashwood Strategies received Noem's $139,750 advance for her 2024 book 'No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.' In January, in an ethics agreement ahead of taking her new job as Homeland Security Secretary, Noem said she would leave her position as managing member of Ashwood Strategies. 'I will continue to have a financial interest in this entity, but I will not provide services material to the production of income,' Noem said. 'Instead, if I receive any income from Ashwood Strategies, LLC in the future, I will receive only passive investment income from it.' On Noem's links to the nonprofit, Stanley said she did not 'establish, finance, maintain, or control American Resolve Policy Fund. She was simply a vender for a non-profit entity.' Her financial disclosure form also revealed that Noem earned $241,519 as governor of South Dakota. The new row came after she attracted attention for wearing a $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rolex watch when she toured the infamous Cecot prison in El Salvador in March. In April, when she had her bag stolen at a restaurant in Washington DC. it emerged she was carrying $3,000 in cash.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Kristi Noem fires back after scrutiny of $80K 'dark money' payment to her company
Donald Trump 's Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem has fired back after it emerged her company received $80,000 from a fundraising group while she was governor of South Dakota. Noem's company was paid $80,000 by a nonprofit she had helped raise $800,000 for, according to tax records reviewed by ProPublica. Critics called the arrangement 'disturbing' and pointed to a South Dakota law that the governor should 'devote (their) full time to office' and 'compensation (be) limited to salaries.' But Noem's lawyer Trevor Stanley, In a statement to ProPublica, said she had 'fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.' Records for the nonprofit, American Resolve Policy Fund, an organization which backs Noem, showed the $800,000 had been taken in from 'fundraising' activities. ProPublica described the nonprofit as a 'so-called dark money group' because it was not required to disclose the identities of its donors. The records showed 10 percent of the money raised was then paid to Ashwood Strategies LLC. Noem was the managing member of Ashwood Strategies, which was incorporated in Delaware in June 2023. When she became President Trump's Homeland Security Secretary, Noem filled out a detailed financial disclosure form. On that form, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she said Ashwood Strategies LLC had taken in money for 'personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity.' She added that the money had not been passed on to her. Income she reported for Ashwood Strategies was 'solely received by the LLC; I did not receive any personal income or other distributions from the LLC,' Noem wrote. The form also revealed that the Ashwood Strategies received Noem's $139,750 advance for her 2024 book 'No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.' In January, in an ethics agreement ahead of taking her new job as Homeland Security Secretary , Noem said she would resign from her position as managing member of Ashwood Strategies. 'I will continue to have a financial interest in this entity, but I will not provide services material to the production of income,' Noem said. 'Instead, if I receive any income from Ashwood Strategies, LLC in the future, I will receive only passive investment income from it.' In his statement to ProPublica, Stanley, said that, after Ashwood Strategies appeared on her financial disclosure, the Office of Government Ethics had 'analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity.' According to her disclosure form Noem earned $241,519 as governor of South Dakota. The new row came after she attracted attention for wearing a $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rolex watch when she toured the infamous Cecot prison in El Salvador in March. The following month, when she had her bag stolen at a restaurant in Washingon DC. it emerged she was carrying $3,000 in cash
The Independent
a day ago
- Business
- The Independent
Kristi Noem secretly accepted huge sum of money from mystery donor - then failed to declare it: report
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.'
