South Dakota interim attorney general dismisses 2 of Ravnsborg’s top aides

South Dakota’s interim attorney general on his first day in office Tuesday dismissed two of former Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg’s top appointees who were involved in the aftermath of Ravnsborg’s 2020 fatal car crash.

Ravnsborg was removed from office last week after the Senate convicted him on impeachment charges for his conduct surrounding the crash. He struck and killed a pedestrian but initially said he might have hit a deer or other large animal.

Gov. Kristi Noem, who pushed for Ravnborg’s dismissal, appointed the lead prosecutor in the Senate impeachment trial, Pennington County State’s Attorney Mark Vargo, as interim attorney general until one is elected and sworn in early next year.

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Jason Ravnsborg was removed from office after fatally hitting a person with his car.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Vargo quickly dismissed Ravnsborg’s chief of staff, Tim Bormann, and the Director of the Division of Criminal Investigation, David Natvig, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported.

Both Bormann and Natvig had earlier this year testified to a House committee weighing impeachment charges. They had also texted with Ravnsborg after the crash.

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Bormann accompanied Ravnsborg to the crash site the morning after the crash, when Ravnsborg says he discovered the body of the man he struck for the first time.

Vargo did not give a reason for their dismissal.