An anonymous whistleblower claims Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office improperly altered and withheld public records related to ongoing scrutiny of the office’s spending, according to the whistleblower’s attorney.
Rogers-based attorney Tom Mars sent a letter Friday to state Sen. Jimmy Hickey, R-Texarkana, offering his client’s testimony and documents to aid a requested legislative audit.
On Wednesday, Hickey asked the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee to investigate Sanders’ office’s purchase of a $19,000 lectern, which has been widely criticized on social media. He also asked the committee to look into the retroactive shielding of several government records after Sanders signed additional Freedom of Information Act exemptions into law this month after a special legislative session.
Mars provided a copy of his letter to the Arkansas Advocate and declined to comment further, saying it “speaks for itself.” The Arkansas Times first reported on the letter.
The letter says Mars’ client “can provide clear and convincing evidence” that Sanders’ office altered and withheld documents that Little Rock attorney and blogger Matt Campbell of the Blue Hog Report requested in recent weeks. Campbell has been scrutinizing and reporting Sanders’ use of the Arkansas State Police airplane for in-state travel as well as her office’s spending habits and purchase of the lectern from an out-of-state events company with a state-issued credit card.
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