LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — At a press conference on Tuesday, Oct. 17 where Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that Arkansas would force a Chinese company to sell off farmland it owns in the state, she explained why she has yet to use the $19,000 lectern that was purchased by her office.
Sanders told reporters at the press conference that the reason she isn't using the lectern is because the media would "talk about nothing else" if it was used.
"While we are focused on things that actually impact our state and impact Arkansas, the media wants to spend all of their time focused on things that frankly don't," Sanders claimed.
The lectern has been a controversial subject ever since the purchase was first revealed in September after documents were obtained by Matt Campbell, a local blogger and attorney through the Freedom of Information Act.
A few days following Campbell's initial lawsuit against the Arkansas State Police was filed, Gov. Sanders called a special legislative session in which she proposed changing the state's FOIA rules. But the move was met with criticism from both conservatives and liberals and the legislation was scaled back to restrict access to security and travel records.
Gov. Sanders' office is facing allegations of altering documents related to the purchase of the $19,000 lectern as well as withholding certain documents related to it.
Those documents and allegations have now led to an official legislative audit that will look into the purchase. That audit was requested by Republican State Senator Jimmy Hickey Jr., who said the audit is needed to "get all the facts."
Sanders and her office have consistently claimed it was an "accounting error" and that the purchase was reimbursed by the Republican Party of Arkansas. A check from the party was not written until September, three months after it was purchased.
The governor has welcomed the audit, but questions still remain regarding the price point of the lectern.
She said some of the features of the lectern includes changes for height differences and "sound components" that make it easier for multiple media outlets to get "the best sound quality" possible for broadcasting press conferences.
Sanders did not explain any other features, but she said she'll let them "come through" during the audit process.