A consumer advocacy group is claiming that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was “highly evasive” and “threatening” when the organization tried to serve her legal papers over her social media promotion of a Texas dental practice in March.
The lawsuit, filed by the group Travelers United in March in D.C. Superior Court, accuses the Republican governor of employing "deceptive advertising practices" on social media when she lavished praise on a Texas dental practice's work on her teeth. Noem says that the posts were not paid promotion.
A judge dismissed the complaint last week after declaring that Travelers United failed to file proof that Noem was served with the lawsuit. But the consumer advocacy group said in a filing on Tuesday that it “successfully served” Noem on April 5.
Noem, whose name has come up as former President Donald Trump’s possible 2024 running mate, has been in the spotlight for the past month after she revealed in her new book that she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, 20 years ago.
An attorney for Travelers United said in the court filing Tuesday that the process server “stated that she was threatened and that Noem and her staff were hostile,” adding that she “felt legitimately threatened” after Noem had “recently been in the news for shooting and killing her dog.”
The filing did not go into detail about the “threatening” behavior but argued that Noem was sufficiently aware of the lawsuit and that it should be allowed to proceed.
“Travelers United had discussed the issue of service with Ms. Noem’s lawyers and thought that they were going to resolve this issue with their client in a professional manner based on our video conference on Thursday, May 23, 2024,” Lauren Wolfe, an attorney for Travelers United, said in the Tuesday court filing. “Based on a tweet from Ms. Noem that she released today at about noon, Ms. Noem had other ideas.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Noem posted to X to celebrate the case's dismissal and argue that Travelers United’s “actions have exposed them as a fake watchdog group filing frivolous claims to smear me.”
“To be clear, I never received compensation for any alleged ‘advertisements,’” Noem said in the post.
In March, Noem posted a nearly five-minute video to various social media accounts describing her experience getting her teeth adjusted by a cosmetic dental company known as Smile Texas.
"The team here was remarkable and finally gave me a smile that I can be proud of and confident in, and that really is a gift that I think is going to be incredibly special to have," Noem says in the video. "I chose the team here at Smile Texas because they’re the best."
The video raised questions from a South Dakota legislator who found it “odd” that Noem would be promoting a dental practice in Texas. Noem has not explained her decision on why she filmed the video and posted it widely on social media.
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