South Dakota AG impeachment probe questions investigators

South Dakota lawmakers weighing impeachment charges for the state’s attorney general are drilling into the investigation of his fatal car crash in 2020. They spent hours questioning the law enforcement officers and a specialist who analyzed the crash involving Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg.

Nearly all of the House investigative committee’s work has so far happened behind closed doors so far. But the committee of seven Republicans and two Democrats met in public Tuesday to question the law enforcement officers who investigated Ravnsborg after he struck and killed a man walking along a rural stretch of highway in September of 2020.

Among those questioned, John Berndt, a traffic reconstruction expert with the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Berndt told the panel that there are a number of unanswered questions. The biggest for Berndt? Why was Ravnsborg driving on the shoulder?…

The committee has another day of public testimony scheduled Wednesday and may hold more hearings at a later date.

January 19. 2022