By Dirk Lammers
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - South Dakota authorities on Wednesday arrested defeated U.S. Senate candidate Annette Bosworth and charged her with multiple counts of perjury and filing false election documents, saying she fraudulently attested to gathering voter signatures when she was really on a Christian mission trip to the Philippines.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley charged Bosworth with six counts of perjury and six counts of filing false documents related to election campaign laws. The arrest warrant was served a day after Bosworth lost the Republican primary with just 6 percent of the vote.
"The election complaints received by the Secretary of State involve conduct that is serious, deliberate, and must be addressed in order to preserve the integrity of our elections," Jackley said in a statement. "Because this is a federal elected office, I have and will continue to discuss the investigation with federal authorities."
Jackley said the 42-year-old Bosworth was given notice of the warrant Wednesday morning and turned herself in to the Minnehaha County Jail. She was immediately released.
Related: A Cancer Within The GOP
As another example of the insanity that passes for political discourse in today's Republican Party, we present Baptist pastor and former talk-show host Jody Hice, candidate for the House seat vacated by Georgia Rep. Paul "lies from the pit of hell" Broun in his unsuccessful Senate bid. Mr. Hice first drew attention with his campaign to install Ten Commandment displays in public buildings -- later expanded to prohibit federal judges from ruling on church-state issues when rebuffed by the courts. Other explicitly theocratic issues championed by this Tea Party darling include stripping Muslims of their First Amendment rights, forcing women to seek their husbands' permission to enter politics, accusing homosexuals of "conspiring" to sodomize children and blaming the Sandy Hook massacre on "kicking God out of the public square." He recently warned that the so-called "blood moon" signalled "world-changing" events. Rather than being dismissed as a fringe crank, Tice polled in first place in the GOP primary, narrowly edging the more mainstream conservative Mike Collins, who he will again face in a runoff
At a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Bosworth called the charges "a political intimidation scheme" against her by Jackley, who was initially appointed to his position by former Gov. Mike Rounds in 2009. Rounds defeated Bosworth and three other Republicans Tuesday night to capture the GOP nomination for the seat being vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson.
"We still believe this is a political persecution," Bosworth said in a prepared statement. She did not take questions.
Jackley said the charges are not politically motivated.
"The Attorney General does not have the luxury of talking a walk or a pass on tough issues," said Jackley, who was re-elected to his post in 2010. "Ms. Bosworth's conduct and statements regarding her petitions speak for themselves."
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