Process server felt ‘legitimately threatened’ trying to serve Kristi Noem lawsuit over Texas dental practice endorsement
The consumer advocacy group behind a recently dismissed lawsuit against Kristi Noem said Tuesday that it plans to continue litigation over her peculiar social media endorsement of a Texas dental practice, noting that the South Dakota Republican governor was “highly evasive” and “threatening” when it tried to serve her legal papers.
The lawsuit, filed by Travelers United in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, accused Noem of posting an “undisclosed advertisement” on her various social media accounts when she endorsed Smile Texas – the Texas dental practice that put in her veneers – in a five-minute-long infomercial-style testimonial.
The complaint was dismissed last week on the grounds that Travelers United did not present the court with proof that Noem was served with the lawsuit.
But the group claims it did serve the governor and that Noem’s recent anecdote about killing her “untrainable” 14-month-old hunting dog lended credence to the process server’s concerns.
“Ms. Noem has recently been in the news for shooting and killing her dog,” a Tuesday filing by Lauren Wolfe, counsel for Travelers United, states. “The process server felt legitimately threatened.”
Wolfe noted that the process server also alleged that the governor was “highly evasive,” “threatening” and that her staff “were hostile” throughout the process.
Even so, Wolfe argued that Noem was “successfully served” and that the case should not be dismissed, including notes from the process server indicating that the paperwork was eventually left with Noem’s staff.
“The baseless lawsuit filed by Travelers United against me was dismissed by the court last week,” Noem wrote on X Tuesday. “Their 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,’” she added.
“If Travelers United continues to engage in baseless lawfare, then I will use every resource at my disposal to hold them accountable,” Noem wrote in a separate post.
Wolfe told The Post that Travelers United “100%” plans to press forward with litigation.
“We would be happy to dismiss this case if we got a receipt showing that Gov. Noem paid in full [for the out-of-state dental procedure],” she said. “We have made that clear to her lawyers and we have yet to receive any sort of documentation showing that.”
It is unclear why Noem cut the testimonial for Smile Dental and posted it widely on social media.
Her office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Travelers United had 14 days from May 20 to contest the dismissal of the lawsuit.
