On Tuesday, South Dakota impeached Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg for a 2020 car crash where he killed a man during a hit-and-run but told police he struck a deer.
According to the Daily Mail, Ravnsborg, 45, was impeached for striking and killing, with his vehicle, 55-year-old Joseph Boever, who was walking along the highway near the city of Highmore.
Investigators allege that on Sept. 12, 2020, Ravnsborg had been reading news articles on his phone while driving and drifted onto the shoulder of the highway where Boever was walking and struck him.
A sheriff who later responded to Ravnsborg's 911 call initially reported it as a collision with an animal. But highway patrol eventually concluded that Ravnsborg's car crossed completely onto the shoulder of the highway before killing Boever.
On the eve of the impeachment vote, Ravnsborg wrote in a letter that a vote to impeach him would "overturn an election," citing that Gov. Kristi Noem called for his impeachment due to investigations his office was pursuing into her.
"Your decision," he writes, "could overturn an election and set forth a dangerous precedent for all South Dakota elected officials."
"I could not resign then and cannot resign now because the incident did not impede my ability to perform the functions of attorney general including on-going investigations of the executive office," he continued. "Knowing Governor Noem could hand select my replacement, I felt it appropriate to stay in office to maintain the checks and balances within the state."
"My office has multiple ongoing investigations into the governor's alleged activities and people associated with her. However, despite her procedural interference and bias toward me, I believe she has rights and should have the ability to let the process prevail regarding these open investigations on her and her administration. Justice should be blind and we all have rights under the state and federal constitution," he concluded.
Noem sharply replied back, stating, "He killed an innocent man, lied about the events of that evening, and abused his office to cover it up."
Noem went on to praise the vote on Twitter, writing that the House "did the right thing for the people of South Dakota and for Joe Boever's family."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.