Arkansas lawmakers on Thursday voted to audit the purchase of a $19,000 lectern for Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, delving into an unusual controversy that’s prompted questions about the seemingly high cost of the item and claims that the governor’s office violated the state’s open-records law.
The all-Republican executive committee of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee also voted to audit the Republican governor’s travel and security expenditures that were retroactively shielded from public release under a new Freedom of Information Act exemption Sanders signed last month.
The 39-inch tall (1-meter), blue and wood-paneled lectern was purchased in June with a state credit card for $19,029.25. It has become the focus of intense scrutiny in recent weeks and has gained national attention. The Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the purchase on Sept. 14, and Sanders’ office has called the use of a state credit card for the lectern an accounting error. Sanders’ office said it received the lectern in August.
Audit we now know for a fact it was purchased on Amazon for 900 bucks.
It’s dropped to $729.
https://www.amazon.com/GTPET-Conference-Machinery-Lectern-Reception/dp/B0CGM72JXG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=34HIVCKEXA10Z&keywords=gtpet%2Bpodium&qid=1697158545&sprefix=gtpet%2Bpodium%2Caps%2C355&sr=8-1&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.2b70bf2b-6730-4ccf-ab97-eb60747b8daf&th=1
Damn, they should have used the affirm payment plan. Smaller monthly payments are a little easier to hide.
Must have been a run on them cause it’s sold out now.
They may have used a furniture contractor. Our office had some dude who looked like the mafia stooge wearing a gold chain in the Simpsons to demo some chairs for us and they were shit quality and priced 3-4x higher than Amazon. I can see how going through a process like this but completely corrupt could produce a podium 20x the base cost.
According to the Associated Press, the company that sold the lectern is Beckett Events, LLC. It’s an event planning company in Virginia founded by a former lobbyist.
Here’s their website:
https://beckettevents.com/
It’s about 80% buzzwords. You know what, good for her for fleecing the government. She probably saw what was getting approved and thought she could do just as well as others by scamming the government. She flew a little too close to the sun here though I think.
It’s also possible that they have a contract with the states corrections facilities to only buy furniture from them. WA state has to buy all it’s furniture for anything public from Correctional Industries for example
North Carolina has a similar policy, before you purchase anything, you’re supposed to check to see if Correction Industries sells it, if so, you need to purchase it from them unless you have a valid exemption (like for instance a medical condition that requires a certain type of chair)
I thought people were joking when they talked bout buying it on amazon, but thats the same one, with different wood!