Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Faces Controversy for Putting $19K Lectern on Government Credit Card

Arkansas lawyer Matthew Campbell first broke the story about the lectern — referring to the controversy as #podiumgate on his blog, Blue Hog Report

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is under scrutiny after a blogger discovered that her office used a government credit card to pay $19,000 for a lectern.

Now the controversy has widened after a public records request submitted by the Associated Press found that Sanders’ office planned to use Republican Party funds to reimburse the state for the lectern.

Arkansas lawyer Matthew Campbell first uncovered that 41-year-old Sanders' office had purchased the lectern for several thousand dollars — referring to the controversy as #podiumgate on his blog, Blue Hog Report.

Last month, Campbell sued Arkansas for access to public records related to Sanders’ travel and security. Days after the suit was filed, Sanders signed into law legislation that would restrict the release of those records.

Sanders argues that the information should be kept private for security purposes, while Campbell and other critics of the governor say the information is needed for government transparency.

Amid the controversy surrounding the release of public records, however, is the lectern that — with its $19,029.25 price tag — cost significantly more than standard lecterns, which run between $200 and $900 online.

Related: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Elected 47th Governor of Arkansas, Following in Her Father Mike Huckabee's Footsteps

Adding to the mystery surrounding the blue-trimmed, wood-paneled lectern is where it came from. The AP reports that the lectern was purchased from a Virginia-based company called Beckett Events LLC, which was founded by a former Washington, D.C. lobbyist.

According to the AP, Sanders' office received the lectern in August, and the Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for its purchase on Sept. 14.

There's another twist, too — courtesy of an anonymous whistleblower, who has claimed via an attorney that Sanders’ office altered records to cover up the purchase of the lectern, the Arkansas Advocate reports.

Next week, a legislative panel will convene for an audit to review the purchase. The audit was requested by Sen. Jimmy Hickey who, like Sanders, is a Republican.

Related: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Dodges Question on Endorsing Trump: 'My Focus Isn't On 2024'

Sanders' office says the money used to reimburse the state government for the lectern had been earmarked for the governor's inauguration. The governor herself — who took office as the 47th governor of Arkansas and the state's first female governor in January — has swatted down any notion of impropriety related to the lectern.

“People want to manufacture a controversy where there isn’t one,” Sanders told reporters this week,  per the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “But this is something the state’s been reimbursed for, and I think there are some people who are always going to be angry and always looking for something to complain about and that’s what they’re picking for right now.”

Related: Mike Huckabee Congratulates GOP Candidates Who Won — Before Addressing Daughter's Historic Arkansas Victory

Sanders added that she wasn't entirely sure why the price tag was so high, though she said the lectern came with "a number of features."

"I'm happy to connect you with the vendor that builds and puts these together, but it's not really my area of specialty," Sanders, who served as Donald Trump's White House press secretary from 2017 to 2019, told reporters. "I'm focused on the things I'm good at. Building podiums is probably not one of them."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.