1. United States
2. Va.
3. Letter

Secretary Kristi Noem allegedly accepted an $80,000 payment from a dark money group to her personal company while serving as governor of South Dakota. This is highly concerning and deserves thorough investigation. By failing to disclose this income on her federal financial disclosure form, she appears to have violated ethics requirements for federal officials. It is absolutely unacceptable for an elected leader to secretly profit from political donations. That the source of the $80,000 remains unknown because of it comes from a dark money group, also raises the issues of transparency and accountability. And, South Dakota law mandates that top officials like the governor devote their full time and efforts to their official roles, not maintaining undisclosed private businesses. Noem's creation of an LLC in Delaware to receive funds from this political nonprofit while she was governor warrants scrutiny and is a possible violation of state law. Because donors may have had undue influence over an elected official through payments to her personal income, this situation severely undermines public trust and the integrity of government institutions. I urge you to immediately open an investigation into Secretary Noem's actions, including any ethics violations or corruption that may have occurred. If the allegations are substantiated, she should be immediately removed from her position. Doing so will preserve the integrity of public service and send a clear message that such self-enrichment at the expense of donors will not be tolerated. The American people deserve leaders who are transparent and truly serving the public interest, not exploiting their positions for personal financial gain from unknown, dark money sources. Oversight is needed to uphold accountability and ethical standards for those in power.