The Wrath Of Ravnsborg

By one vote, South Dakota's state House has impeached state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg over his fatal accident that killed a pedestrian in 2020.

The South Dakota House on Tuesday impeached state Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg over a 2020 car crash in which he killed a pedestrian but initially said he might have struck a deer or another large animal.

Ravnsborg, a Republican, is the first official to be impeached in South Dakota history. He will at least temporarily be removed from office pending the historic Senate trial, where it takes a two-thirds majority to convict on impeachment charges. The Senate must wait at least 20 days to hold its trial, but has not yet set a date.

Ravnsborg pleaded no contest last year to a pair of traffic misdemeanors in the crash, including making an illegal lane change. He has cast Joseph Boever’s death as a tragic accident.

In narrowly voting to impeach the state’s top prosecutor, the Republican-controlled House charged Ravnsborg with committing crimes that caused someone’s death, making “numerous misrepresentations” to law enforcement officers after the crash and using his office to navigate the criminal investigation. A Senate conviction would mean Ravnsborg would be barred from holding any state office in the future.

“When we’re dealing with the life of one of your citizens, I think that weighed heavily on everyone,” said Republican Rep. Will Mortenson, who introduced the articles of impeachment.

Ravnsborg said in a statement he is looking forward to the Senate trial, “where I believe I will be vindicated.”

Meanwhile, Tim Bormann, the attorney general’s chief of staff, said his staff would “professionally dedicate ourselves” to their work while Ranvsborg is forced to take a leave.

Ravnsborg, who took office in 2019, was returning home from a Republican dinner in September 2020 when he struck and killed Boever, who was walking along a rural highway. A sheriff who responded after Ravnsborg called 911 initially reported it as a collision with an animal. Ravnsborg has said he did not realize he hit a man until he returned the next day and found the body.

The Highway Patrol concluded that Ravnsborg’s car crossed completely onto the highway shoulder before hitting Boever, and criminal investigators said later that they didn’t believe some of Ravnsborg’s statements.

The House rejected the recommendation of a GOP-backed majority report from a special investigative committee, which argued that anything wrong he did was not part of his official duties “in office.” But even Republican lawmakers who argued his actions did not meet constitutional grounds for impeachment said Ravnsborg should resign.

“He should have stepped down, should have done the honorable thing,” said House Speaker Spencer Gosch, who oversaw the House investigation and voted against impeachment.

 

Observations:

 

1. Jason Ravnsborg killed a man.
2. He should be in jail for vehicular manslaughter, because he killed a man. 
3. He should, at the bare minimum, resign from public office.
4. That public office is Attorney General, resignation here is a requirement.
5. He lied to the cops about it. I know prosecutors lie to cops all the time, but he's AG.
6. So yes, he now deserves impeachment, removal, and disbarment from public office.
7. He won't be convicted and removed because Republicans are the party of corruption.
8. Resignation months ago would have saved the state GOP a lot of hassle, apparently.
9. But Ravnsborg is going to make people remove him.
10. Finally, he's not running for reelection in November but he still can in the future.

 

 Republican make laws that don't apply to them, enforced selectively by them, and in every case used to enrich them. Some Democrats do that too, but not the entire party.