A reporter for Rapid City, South Dakota ABC, NBC and Fox affiliate KOTA and KSFY-KDLT was arrested this week for using Governor Kristi Noem’s telephone number to make a prank call to the former chair of the state’s Republican Party, court documents show. He’s also been fired from the stations.
Political reporter Austin Goss has been charged with making threatening, harassing, or misleading contacts through a prank call. The call intentionally caused Noem’s personal phone number to be displayed to the recipient.
CBS News said that court documents show that Goss made the call on January 22 using the website PrankDial.com to a “D.L.” The website made it look like the call was coming from Noem’s personal cellphone. Dan Lederman, the former chair of the South Dakota Republican Party, confirmed to CBS News that he was the prank call’s recipient. He declined further comment.
During the call, Lederman heard a recording called Mafia Guy Got Vaccines where a man asks the listener questions about the whereabouts of COVID-19 vaccines, then accuses the listener of conspiring to “move the three boxes of that AstraZeneca outside this family,” later saying, “Oh, I’m getting so angry.” The recording ends with the line, “You’ve just been pranked by PrankDial.com.”
According to an affidavit, Goss likely got Noem’s personal cell number by having both personal and professional conversations with the governor while he was a reporter for the stations.
“We learned of the incident involving Austin Goss late last night,” the stations said in a statement. “Once we gathered the facts, we decided to terminate his employment with our stations. Dakota News Now and KOTA Territory were unaware of Mr. Goss’ activities and deeply regret the lack of judgment he showed, which violated our policies and is contrary to our commitment to the highest standards of journalistic integrity.”