South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) is facing allegations of abuse of power after she helped her daughter acquire a real estate appraisal license from a South Dakota state agency despite being denied last year.
On Monday, September 27, The Associated Press detailed a meeting that took place last year between the Republican governor and multiple officials. At the time, it seemed like Noem's daughter, Kassidy Peters, would be denied for the appraisal license.
AP noted that while it remains unclear what all occurred during the meeting, several months later, Peters did receive the license. The state official who initially handled Peters' licensing application reportedly did plan to deny her for it. Months later, the same official was pressured into early retirement. That led to a lawsuit being filed which was settled for $200,000.
While Noem has yet to directly address the allegations, she did tweet to suggest that it was some form of attack on her "children."
"Listen I get it. I signed up for this job," Noem tweeted. "But now the media is trying to destroy my children."
She also attempted to criticize the media for its alleged "double-standard." However, shortly after the governor tweeted her remarks, legal experts and Twitter users fired back, arguing otherwise.
According to Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer who served under President George W. Bush, Noem's actions appear to be a clear conflict of interest and subsequent abuse of power.
"It's clearly a conflict of interest and an abuse of power for the benefit of a family member," Painter told the news outlet.
HuffPost also highlights how Noem's tweet "ignored the larger issue of whether she used her office and state resources to help a relative advance professionally, and she ignored her own attacks on a politician's adult child, Hunter Biden, the troubled son of President Joe Biden, both on Twitter and on Fox News last year."
Twitter users also shared critical remarks:
Oh look gaslight... the story is *YOUR* public corruption not your kid's failure to get approved https://t.co/rtJAkycSrQ
— Shannon in Ohio 4 (@ShannonFreshour) September 27, 2021
You abused the power of your office to corruptly get your daughter her real estate license, but at least now she can get a commission on the bridge you're trying to sell your voters. https://t.co/JZC8rLqDq7
— Frank Lesser (@sadmonsters) September 27, 2021
This you? https://t.co/gSl4oR6Eus pic.twitter.com/jOBH6QHrA8
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 27, 2021
1. Your daughter is 26, NOT a child.
— Kriste Kline😷🗳 (@KristeKline) September 28, 2021
2. You used your position as a public servant, to intervene on your adult daughter's behalf over a licensing issue AND had other public servants harrass a 30 yr employee into early retirement.
It's called nepotism.
Resign. https://t.co/F3blzaFzU0
This is about your corrupt abuse of office to help your daughter.
— Charles Campisi (@1813Doncarlo) September 28, 2021
Your deflection is transparent.
Falsely accusing media of a "double standard" is a cop-out & a red herring. Being a leader means taking responsibility for your wrongdoing - something you haven't learned. https://t.co/Cfq9hM2RWQ
