Arkansas governor’s $19,000 lectern remains out of sight, but not out of mind with audit underway

By ANDREW DeMILLO
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is trying to move past questions over a $19,000 lectern that she doesn’t even want to use right now. An audit is underway over the purchase of the lectern that’s prompted claims her office illegally altered records about it. The lectern has drawn national attention and even ridicule from a late-night comic, but Sanders is dismissing it as a manufactured controversy. Meanwhile, she’s rolling out announcements that have been cheered on by her Republican base, such as targeting Chinese-owned farmland and banning gender-neutral terms like “pregnant people” from state documents.