Noem fires back after $80K 'dark money' payment allegations
Critics called the arrangement 'disturbing' and pointed to a South Dakota law that the governor should 'devote (their) full time to office' and 'compensation (be) limited to salaries.' However, Noem's lawyer Trevor Stanley, in a statement to the Daily Mail, said she had 'fully complied with the letter and the spirit of the law.'
He added: 'During her confirmation process, the Office of Government Ethics analyzed and cleared her financial information in regards to this entity. Secretary Noem has fully disclosed all of her income on public documents that are readily available, and she has made all required filings at the state and federal level.
'In fact, the only reason this story exists is because individuals were able to examine publicly available documents.' Records for the nonprofit, American Resolve Policy Fund, an organization that backs Noem, showed the $800,000 had been taken in from 'fundraising' activities. ProPublica described the nonprofit as a 'so-called dark money group' because it was not required to disclose the identities of its donors.
The records showed 10 percent of the money raised was then paid to Ashwood Strategies LLC. Noem was the managing member of Ashwood Strategies, which was incorporated in Delaware in June 2023. When she became President Trump's Homeland Security Secretary, Noem filled out a detailed financial disclosure form.
On that form, reviewed by the Daily Mail, she said Ashwood Strategies LLC had taken in money for 'personal activities outside my official gubernatorial capacity.' She added that the money had not been passed on to her. Income she reported for Ashwood Strategies was 'solely received by the LLC; I did not receive any personal income or other distributions from the LLC,' Noem wrote.
The form also revealed that Ashwood Strategies received Noem's $139,750 advance for her 2024 book 'No Going Back: The Truth on What's Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward.' In January, in an ethics agreement ahead of taking her new job as Homeland Security Secretary, Noem said she would leave her position as managing member of Ashwood Strategies.
'I will continue to have a financial interest in this entity, but I will not provide services material to the production of income,' Noem said. 'Instead, if I receive any income from Ashwood Strategies, LLC in the future, I will receive only passive investment income from it.'
On Noem's links to the nonprofit, Stanley said she did not 'establish, finance, maintain, or control American Resolve Policy Fund. She was simply a vender for a non-profit entity.' Her financial disclosure form also revealed that Noem earned $241,519 as governor of South Dakota.
The new row came after she attracted attention for wearing a $50,000 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Rolex watch when she toured the infamous Cecot prison in El Salvador in March. In April, when she had her bag stolen at a restaurant in Washington DC. it emerged she was carrying $3,000 in cash.
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