The South Dakota Senate convicted Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg of two counts in his referral hearing Tuesday, removing him from office and preventing him from holding office in the future. The referral came from a car accident in 2020 in which Republican Ravnsborg fatally hit a man with his car. The night of the crash he said on a 911 call that he thought he had hit a deer or some other large animal and did not know he had hit a person until the next day. “There is no doubt it was a lie,” said Republican Sen. Lee Sonbeck. “This man fell under an innocent South Dakota.” Clay State Attorney Alexis Tracy, who led the prosecution team, agreed, saying Ravnsborg “absolutely saw the man who hit the next few moments.” SOUTH DAKOTA AG LIE ABOUT THE DEATH GROUP, THE FIGHTING PROSECUTORS ARE CLAIMING This man was Joseph Boever, 55 years old. Ravnsborg reached a settlement agreement with Boever’s widow in September after threatening to sue. The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed. Ravnsborg was charged with two counts of traffic offenses after the accident, and asked not to be challenged in either, receiving fines of $ 500 each. The State Senate convicted him of committing a crime that caused someone to die and of mischief. Prosecutors accused Ravnsborg of using his position “to set the tone and gain influence” in the investigation and of making “inaccuracies and outright lies.” Jason Ravnsborg, Attorney General of South Dakota, speaks during a press conference outside the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, Monday, September 9, 2019. (Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg via Getty Images) SOUTH DAKOTA AGENCY AG: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Ravnsborg’s lawyer, Ross Garber, told the South Dakota Senate that removing the attorney general from office would be “a reversal of the will of the voters.” Governor Christie Noem will now choose Ravensburg’s replacement, who will serve until a new attorney general is elected in November and then sworn in. CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION “After almost two years, the dark cloud over the attorney general’s office has lifted,” Noem wrote on Twitter on Tuesday night. “It’s time to move on and start rebuilding trust in the office.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
