Governor Eric Holcomb is quickly approaching the finish line of his administration. Despite that, he’s still keeping a few cards to himself.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday after appointing Porter County Circuit Court Judge Mary DeBoer to the Indiana Court of Appeals, Governor Holcomb spoke briefly on judicial appointments, energy, and also his old colleague Jamey Noel.
“I will respect the outcome,” Holcomb said shortly when asked about Noel’s conviction.
Noel, former sheriff of Clark County, is facing 31 felony financial charges related to years of fraud and money laundering. He offered to plead guilty to 27 of those charges in exchange for a 12-year prison sentence. Noel has been a close friend of Governor Holcomb’s for years. Noel led Holcomb’s campaign for governor in 2016, was part of his transition team and also served as chairman of Holcomb’s reelection bid in 2020.
The governor stated in August he would not pardon Noel.
Holcomb also chose to stay quiet about state Attorney General Todd Rokita.
Rokita is under his third conduct investigation as attorney general. If that investigation resulted in Rokita losing his law license and thus requiring Holcomb to appoint someone else as state AG.
But when asked about that hypothetical, the governor chose to treat it as such, “have you seen ‘Dumb & Dumber’? So, you’re saying there’s a chance (laughs)? I don’t think about hypotheticals like that, ever.”
The conduct complaint against Todd Rokita centers around the issue of Terminated Pregnancy Reports and his belief that those reports should be available to analyze to assure Indiana doctors are following state abortion laws.