Sen. Rounds’ senior staffer posts image of obscene gesture after report about ethics concerns

After allegations surfaced that his work as a state-level lobbyist is a conflict of interest, a senior staffer for a U.S. senator from South Dakota went to social media and posted an image of an actor with a raised middle finger.

The senator’s office has not addressed questions about the post.

Rob Skjonsberg, of Fort Pierre, is a senior adviser and former chief of staff for Republican Sen. Mike Rounds and has worked on Rounds’ campaigns. Politico published a news story Sept. 4 about Skjonsberg’s simultaneous work in South Dakota as a lobbyist on behalf of companies including Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Rounds, who serves as co-chair of the Senate Artificial Intelligence Caucus, has been involved in legislation and policy discussions that could affect the company.

Shortly after the Politico story was published, Rounds’ sole opponent in the Nov. 3 election, independent candidate Brian Bengs, called on Rounds to support a ban on government staffers and campaign staffers lobbying for corporations and special interests.

“South Dakotans deserve to know that the people who work for them aren’t using public service as a revolving door to lucrative lobbying jobs,” Bengs said in a news release.

Skjonsberg responded that same evening by posting an image on X (formerly Twitter) of an actor posing with a raised middle finger.

“Like you, the nonsense will be forgotten @BrianBengs,” Skjonsberg wrote in the X post, using Bengs’ X username.

Lobbying and ethics

Records maintained by the South Dakota Secretary of State’s Office show Skjonsberg has been lobbying in the state since at least 2023 and is registered on behalf of 14 clients this year, ranging from Meta Platforms to farm groups, equipment manufacturers and mining interests, among others.

Experts from ethics watchdog groups quoted by Politico said it’s inappropriate and a conflict of interest for a U.S. senate staffer to simultaneously work as a lobbyist. Rounds’ Senate spokesperson Dezmond Ward told Politico the senator’s general counsel “consulted with the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Ethics, which provided guidance to make certain there was and is no conflict of interest.” Politico also quoted Ward saying “Senate Ethics guidance continues to be followed today.”

Ward sent similar statements to South Dakota Searchlight, adding that “over four years ago, our general counsel worked with Senate Ethics to establish a structure to avoid any potential conflicts of interest,” and Rounds’ office “also implemented additional safeguards beyond what was recommended by Senate Ethics.” Ward did not respond to follow-up questions from Searchlight seeking further information about the structure and additional safeguards he referenced.

X post questions

Searchlight sent Ward multiple messages including questions about whether Rounds condones Skjonsberg’s X post. Ward’s responses did not address the questions about the post. Instead, Searchlight received a reply from Skjonsberg.

“I did not clear the X with anyone. I can defend myself,” wrote Skjonsberg, who often misspells “Bengs” as “Bangs” in his communications. “Bangs has a habit of bullying people and he picked a fight with the wrong guy.”

Skjonsberg offered no examples to support the bullying allegation.

A Democrat, Julian Beaudion, was nominated to run in the Senate race against Rounds and Bengs but withdrew last month while accusing Bengs of being part of a coordinated effort — with a group of Democrats who were pessimistic about Beaudion’s chances of success — to push Beaudion out of the race. Bengs denied that accusation at the time, saying “I entirely reject the notion that there was some behind-the-scenes conspiracy.”

Big tech ties

Bengs issued another news release Monday morning calling further attention to the Politico reporting and also to about $200,000 of campaign contributions — later verified by Searchlight — to the Rounds campaign from people and political action committees with ties to tech companies such as Meta, OpenAI, Anthropic and Alphabet (owner of Google), and to tech-company investors.

Rounds has been active in legislation affecting the tech industry, including being a sponsor or cosponsor of bills that would promote artificial intelligence innovation in the financial services industry, prevent smuggling of American-made semiconductors into China, and boost American manufacturing of robotics.

Bengs accused Rounds of being too closely affiliated with big tech firms, including companies attempting to build data centers.

“He will claim that he represents us, but the money tells a different story,” Bengs said at a press conference where he released the information.

When Searchlight asked the Rounds campaign for a response to Bengs’ statements about Rounds’ ties to big tech, Skjonsberg replied with a written message saying Bengs’ announcement “stinks of hypocrisy and big government socialism.” Skjonsberg also said, in part, “the governor and the Legislature have already put strict guidelines on data centers in South Dakota, and the top of that list is local control.”

Skjonsberg was referencing a new state law that allows the Public Utilities Commission to assess data center companies the cost of regulatory reviews related to their projects, and another new law that preserves local data center regulations while protecting against excessive water use for data center cooling and data-center-caused rate increases for other electric customers.

Skjonsberg additionally defended Rounds.

“I’ve known Mike for almost half my life,” Skjonsberg said. “He is a man of character and faith.”