By Seth Tupper, South Dakota Searchlight
October 2, 2024

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s troop deployments to the nation’s southern border now have another cost: $42,000 to settle a lawsuit over a watchdog group’s document request.

The federal government recently paid the money from funds earmarked for the South Dakota National Guard, according to a National Guard spokesman.

The money went to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, known by the acronym CREW, in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit’s work “targets government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests and personal gain,” according to its website.

In 2021, Noem deployed 48 Guard troops to help secure the U.S.-Mexico border, using $1 million donated by Republican billionaire Willis Johnson, of Tennessee.

States including SD pledging hundreds of troops and spending millions to help Texas at the border

CREW submitted a Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents related to the donation and deployment. The South Dakota National Guard denied the request, and CREW filed a lawsuit against the Guard and the U.S. Army. 

The nonprofit ultimately obtained records showing the deployment cost the state nearly $500,000 beyond the $1 million donation. Email records showed that Jeff Marlette, then the state’s adjutant general of the National Guard, was involved in framing Noem’s language about the donation and deployment despite saying publicly that he was unaware of the donation until after the deployment was planned.

CREW criticized the donation and deployment in a news release last year.

“The use of the private donation to activate the troops was widely covered in national media not only as unprecedented but also unethical and legally dubious,” CREW said.

CREW’s lawsuit sought not only the release of the documents but also payment for the organization’s costs and attorney fees. The litigation remained pending until this September, when the parties told a judge they had reached a settlement. The settlement is not included in the public court file, but South Dakota Searchlight obtained it through a records request to the South Dakota National Guard. 

The donation-funded deployment was one of three that Noem ordered to the nation’s southern border from 2021 through this year. The state spent $2.7 million on those deployments through May, according to the state Department of Public Safety. 

The Johnson donation covered $1 million of those costs, and Noem tapped South Dakota’s Emergency and Disaster Fund to cover the rest. Although the troops were deployed to assist the state of Texas secure its border, Noem has said she will not ask Texas for reimbursement.

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Seth Tupper is editor-in-chief of South Dakota Searchlight. He was previously a supervising senior producer for South Dakota Public Broadcasting and a newspaper journalist in Rapid City and Mitchell.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.

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