'Not a defense': Arkansas lawyer shreds Sarah Sanders' excuse for $19k podium purchase

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders is coming under more scrutiny following revelations that her office paid $19,000 for a podium.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that there is nothing scandalous about the purchase because the state was reimbursed for it by the Arkansas Republican Party – but a timeline put together by the newspaper shows that the reimbursement occurred only three days after independent journalist Matt Campbell filed a state Freedom of Information Act request regarding the purchase, which happened back in June.

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What's more, the reimbursement occurred just one day before Campbell received his response to the FOIA request.

Arkansas attorney Tom Mars, who says he is representing a whistleblower who can give first-hand testimony about Sanders' office altering documents related to Campbell's FOIA request, tells the Democrat-Gazette that he is not impressed by the governor's claim that taxpayers getting reimbursed means that there is no scandal.

"So what if the Governor twisted the arm of the [Arkansas] GOP Chair who used to work for her when she got caught and asked him to have the Republican Party reimburse the state?" Mars told the newspaper. "That's not a defense, and it doesn't offer her any legal protection."

Sanders, who first rose to national prominence while serving as White House press secretary to former President Donald Trump, has denied any wrongdoing, although she acknowledged to reporters this week that she was unsure of why the podium her office bought would cost $19,000.