Prosecutor won't file criminal charges over purchase of $19K lectern by Arkansas governor's office

A prosecutor said Friday he will not file any criminal charges over the purchase of a $19,000 lectern by the office of Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders that attracted nationwide scrutiny.

An audit had found the purchase potentially violated state laws on purchasing, state property and government records. But Pulaski County Prosecutor Will Jones said that after a “thorough review of the report and supporting documents," his office determined “criminal charges are not warranted.”

There is “insufficient proof of criminal conduct," Jones said in a letter Friday to auditor Roger Norman.

Norman said in an email he had no comment.

Alexa Henning, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Jones' review confirmed what the governor's office had said all along.

“We followed the law, reimbursed the state with private funds, and this was nothing more than a ridiculous controversy manufactured by the far left,” Henning said in an email statement.

The lectern for Sanders, who served as press secretary for former President Donald Trump and has been widely viewed as a potential candidate to be his running mate, has drawn attention ranging from late night host Jimmy Kimmel to The New York Times.

The blue and wood-paneled lectern was bought last June with a state credit card for $19,029.25 from an events company in Virginia. The Republican Party of Arkansas reimbursed the state for the purchase on Sept. 14, and Sanders’ office has called the use of the state credit card an accounting error. Sanders’ office said it received the lectern in August.

Similar lectern models are listed online for $7,500 or less.

Arkansas lawmakers last year approved the request to review the purchase of the lectern. The subsequent audit said Sanders’ office