June 22, 2026 • 19 mins
Attorney General Drew Wrigley, $28M awarded for DAPL.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Dakota Mornings Ion your host Michael Bell.
We are joined on the phone by North Dakota Attorney
General Drew Wrigley. Drew, good morning. Thank you for taking
the time to join us this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Of course, it's my pleasure good to be with you
and your listeners.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We just had some really good news through your hard
work and your team's hard work and efforts over the
course of the last I don't know, fifteen years, seems
like maybe twenty years, but the federal government is finally
going to pay off their old debts to the State
of North Dakota.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, that's right, we needed to know. The State of
North Dakota sued the federal government in federal court seeking
compensation for what we set out was their malfeasons and
nonfeasis by what they did and didn't do during the
Dapple protests, riots and destructive conduct across those months back
(00:58):
in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
And so we the matter, you know, persisted.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
For a number of years and then finally came came
to trial. I mean, there were a lot of settlement
discussions in there along the way, but we couldn't get
them to budget any way, shape or form, and we
went to trial here now a little over a year ago,
back in early twenty twenty four. The trial acted, you
(01:24):
know a little over a week or so, and you know,
a trial with two former governors at the time testifying,
Governor Burgham, Governor Dalrymple, and a host of other law.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Enforcement and other witnesses.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And we established and the court found that the federal
government through there through their misdeeds and in action during
those protests, that they acted in ways that it made
the situation actually even worse beyond not even helping. So
we were very gratified by the federal court found in
(02:01):
North Dakota's favor and awarded US thirty eight million dollars
in compensation, and they offset that by by ten million dollars.
That Senator Hovan and his team along with then Conreersson Kramer,
that they had gotten the Justice Department to get North
(02:24):
Dakota grant a ten million dollars, so that was offset
of course, and the award was for twenty eight roughly
twenty eight million dollars. What ensued next then, when we
got that award at a little over a year ago,
the federal government then sued North Dakota not sued. They
appealed North Dakota's suit. They appealed that federal court decision,
(02:48):
and we were right back in court, this time in
front of the a certain Court of Appeals. So our
team engaged in some lengthy, detailed at times arguin its
negotiations with the Department of Justice over the course of
several months, culminating with a meeting that I had with
(03:10):
the head of the Civil Division last June. Flew out
to try to finalize those negotiations, and we did, in
fact finalize those negotiations, and then, like a lot of
things the better governments took them, took a year before
we could finally get to the point that the matter
has been completely resolved. So forgive me for the long narrative.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
No, No, I've wanted that a long journey.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It's been a long journey, Mike. And I'll tell you
when I walked out of the Justice Department in last
June that day, the head of the Civil Division, who
had just at that point just been confirmed by the
United States Senate a couple of weeks before then, but
had clearly taken the time to go through and really
(03:55):
become super familiar with the case to the background, and
we had very fruitful, very candid negotiations, and when we're
walked out of there, we had an agreement in principle
which now has become a full agreement, that North Dakota
would be paid every single penny that the federal court
had ordered, and that along with that they would the
(04:21):
federal government would withdraw all of their appeals. This matter
would then be finalized for North Dakota, so we're completely compensated.
There's no more appeal of that, and we appreciated this
very much. There was an acknowledgment by the federal government
that the actions of the federal government during the Obama
(04:44):
administration had fallen far short of anything that was helpful,
that it had made the situation in some ways worse.
Acknowledged the difficulty that the men and women in uniform,
but the men the people of these can be unities
went through during that time. The destruction of property, the
(05:05):
anxiety for a community that was in many instances overwhelmed
by the violence that was in the surrounding areas. Vehicles
were being stopped, property was being damaged, roadways were being
shut down, Unlawful checkpoints for being established by protesters and rioters,
and the list goes on and on, and you know
(05:27):
that wound was pretty deep YEP in this part of
the world, and you know, people made it through that,
and we're really really pleased to be able to make
people know that the bill has been paid financially completely.
There's been an acknowledgment of the poor conduct of the
Obama administration in our federal government at that time, and
(05:50):
the appeals are done and this this chapter has been
closed well.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And I want to give you and your team credit
for the acknowledgment that the federal government made that they
fell far, far short in their interactions with the chaos
that was going on, the riots that were going on.
I think that that's almost more important than the money,
although the money is really really important, because this is
(06:18):
a reimbursement, is it not?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It is? It is Actually, you know, we spent tens
of millions of dollars on putting together in the law
enforcement resources necessary to both attempt to quell the riots themselves,
but then eventually push the rioters and the protesters off
of their encampment, off of every square inch of state land.
(06:47):
And we did that without When I say we were
talking about the men and women in uniforms. Yep, some
of whom weren't even from North Dakota. I'd be brought
in from around the country pursuing to interstate pack the
North Dakota has of other states. I mean, everyone remembers
it was a very high tension film time, and that
we got through all of that without serious bodily injury
(07:07):
or death is a remarkable feat by the men and
women in uniform who did their jobs professionally and well
at tremendous risk to themselves, not to mention the harassment
and threats of the protesters, and more so we we
(07:29):
you know, when I went in it for the negotiations,
I have to say to try to finals, we were
still many millions of dollars apart of the two sides.
And one of the first things that I said to
the leadership of the Justice Department, I said, North Dakota
doesn't need a penny. We don't need one nickel from
the federal government when it comes to our revenues and
our robust economy and where we're at financially and ahead
(07:53):
of them. Civil Division kind of smiled at me and said, oh,
this is going to go a lot faster than I thought.
Both kind of chuckled. We we said the tone for
just a really you know, both of us putting cards
on the table.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
I mean, there was we didn't have sufficient time to sit.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And bs each other about where we were and how
we got there. And he said, I said, however, and
he kind of laughed and said I had a feeling
there was going to be a however. And we went.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Into the history of what had.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Taken place, and I was very impressed with their knowledge
of what had been done, and they had clearly immersed
themselves in the facts of the circumstances and the facts
of the litigation itself and the trial which played out
in federal court before federal Judge Dan Traynor was the
districort judge who tried the case. And we got to
(08:40):
a place of resolution, and the last component of it
was he said, it's what I'm hearing through is that
North Dakota needs an acknowledgement. I said, we sure as
hell deserve one, the people of the region, and beyond
deserve and acknowledgement by our federal government. And I said
it was beyond frustrating. And I had the privilege of
serving as Lieutenant governor at that time working line alongside
(09:04):
Governor Jack Dalrymple, who handled those circumstances so ably and
well with utilizing the resources that we had and making
clearheaded decisions as we went along, including when he decided
to call out the North.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Dakota National Guard who came.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Into the circumstance and also and joined with law enforcement,
setting up like themselves, lawful checkpoints to ensure that that
we're trying to calm the situation and steady the hands
out there. And you know, a lot of decisions were
made along the way, a lot of them caused in
(09:41):
part by a federal government that would not acknowledge the
basic facts such as this is an unlawful encampment. Everybody
knew that it was. They very clear, they it was
very clear, they didn't the permitting requirements for anyone to
be out there for more than a short period time.
All of not to mention, they were using that platform
(10:04):
of that unlawful win caampment as a launching point for
all sorts of illegal conduct and damaging conduct and dangerous
conduct that significantly harmed art or state and region. And
you know, that became sort of a sort of a blueprint,
and they wanted to become sort of a blueprint for
(10:25):
what could happen around the country. So it was very important.
People need to remember this had national and international attentionion
on it. And at the end of the day, North
Dakota handled the situation well and uh without any partnership
from our federal government.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And and there was federal lands that were involved also,
and UH, you know that was that was moralizing at
times not to have that partnership with our federal government
who knew and acknowledged behind the scenes. Yes, it was
an unlawful in campment. Yes they they saw the videos
and the and the and the drone footage of all
the violence taking place out there, and yet they weren't
(11:05):
willing to do a dang thing in the middle of that.
That was disappointing. But we stand here today having been
compensated financially, have an acknowledgment of the uh of the
poor performance of the Obama administration and the federal government
at that time, and the appeals are done and we
(11:27):
can move forward.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, But the overwhelming number
of rioters which who descended upon North Dakota were from
out of state were not North Dakotin's.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, exactly right. Eventually it had swelln into many, many thousands,
and they were bought and paid for protesters coming in.
And you saw that with the people that were being
arrested dramatically, dramatically large numbers of out of state agitators
paid to come in and disrupt and protest and damage
(12:02):
and uh, you know, give give life to this, to
this effort. And we said throughout and I say again today,
this was not a situation ultimately where the state of
North Dakota and the people of the Standing Rock Indian
Reservation were at loggerheads and we're at war. That was
(12:24):
nothing close to the facts of this circumstance. And what
began as a lawful protest, and there were lawful components
to the protest escalated significantly and then escalated dramatically, and
it was dangerous. And I remember times that we were
(12:45):
speaking with the leadership of the Standing Rock Uh tribe
and we there was a frustration point for them as
well that it has gotten well outside of their control.
And and you know, I met with I met, I
met in a couple of different sale barms out in
Lord County with with citizens out there and people who
wanted to understand a little clear or feeling what was
(13:06):
the administration doing and how are we handling this and
what was the planned and those folks, they were very
quick to point that out there, like standing rock, there
are neighbors, they're our friends, and we're glad to hear
you say that. You know, we recognize this is margely
and out of state protests. That's feeling the worst parts
(13:27):
of what's going on.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And we need to go to a commercial break. We
will be back. Welcome back to Dakota Morning. As I
am your host, Michael Bell. We are joined on the
phone by North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley. And Drew,
this is you know the old adages you can't fight
city hall. Recognizing as I've characterized that the federal government
is the biggest bully out there, or can be can
(13:49):
be the biggest bully out there, this is proof that
you can fight city hall. You just have to be patient.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, you have to be patient.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
You got to be assistant also, and I literally want
to commend there are a number of people in the
Office of Attorney General who have worked on this matter
over the years, handled defosite. In fact, I was deposed
along the way by members of what are now members
of the staff, my colleagues in the offense. Yeah, and
we we they did a fantastic job along the way,
(14:22):
building the foundation upon which all of us uh, you know,
the trial itself, and then our stance going into the
possible appeals here as well. In the end that the
negotiations that we've got to outstanding solicitor general and fell
at uh and he is our solicitor General but also
is handling this matter for the appeals in the A
(14:42):
Circuit and was negotiated with the lead negotiator with the
Department of Justice leading into this finalizing this matter. Really
appreciate his efforts. Matt Saggs, mean, the head of our
Natural Resources division over oversaw a tremendous amount of living,
gation and work on this matter before and leading into
(15:03):
the trial in federal court. So it's been a tremendously
broad effort across this time. And at the end of
the day, you know, we were on the righteous side
of this. North Dkota was wronged. We were not assisted
by a federal government that should have been helping us
when when part of this encampment was on federal land,
and federal land was being used as a as a
(15:24):
station and basis and a platform for this illegal conduct.
And so I added, I appreciated walking out of the
Justice Department one year ago with that acknowledgement. They kind
of chuckled. They pointed upstairs. They said, you know, I
know that you can sign on the line for North
Dakota and bind your state. He's kind of pointed up.
He said, I've got to go up a few floors
and get get approvals for all of this. But we
(15:45):
had had a really fruitful discussion and they saw it
through to the end. And here we are a year
later with it finalized. And and you know, as I
say again, North Crowser had made whole financially and whole
I'll say in a very real way, almost you could
say whole spiritually, because you get an acknowlishment. And so
so hats off to the Morton County Sheriff's department and
(16:10):
all the others, all the others who joined in and
Sheriff kirchmart over there did such a great job, he
and his team, and then all the others who all
the other departments and police departments and sheriff's offices all
over the state of North Dakota, and some from outside
of the state who joined in locked arms and and
(16:30):
put down this riot. It was a it was. It
was at times of slow motion and riot and at
other times nothing close to slow motion. It was you know, mollotop.
Cocktails are being thrown, rocks are being thrown, firearms being
discharged by one protester, other weapons, assaults, threats, property being destroyed,
(16:51):
roadways being taken over. God bless the men and women
in uniform. National Guard.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, this is this goes to the professionalism of the
National Guard, the professionalism of law enforcement, the mutual aid
throughout the state of North Dakota. You characterized, nobody was hurt,
nobody was hurt, nobody was killed. This is this is
a direct reflection of the professionalism of the National Guard
and law enforcement in North Dakota one.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Hundred percent right. You know, it was the controversial thing
at the time when Governor Dalrymple called out the National Guard,
and there there were some radio personalities and some others
in the state really calling into questions. Well, I'll say
a couple of things. Number One, they didn't have eyes
on the situation and they wanted to make it political.
They wanted to make it negative about our administration.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
And they were wrong about that.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Number Two, after the National Guard was called in, Chairman
Arshimba was on a national televised doing a doing national
interview of some kind. And when we had our little,
our little daily.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Phone conversation with our federal delegation and our administration had sound,
Senator high.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Camp at the time pointed out that Chairman Archimbau had
been on this national program the night before and she
said he was praising h the action of the State
of North Dakota calling out the National Guard because he
felt that it had done a lot to really settle
down the situation and that you could see all their
presence all around the region and that that had been
(18:23):
a really helpful move and we knew that it would
be and uh, and it was I appreciated that acknowledgment
from Chairman Arshimbau and it was Uh, it was. It
was definitely a turning point in the matter because they
were able to take on some of the responsibilities that
the men up to them, the men that the swarm peace.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Officers had been had been taking.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
A checkpoints and kind of just keeping control of the region.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
And after that we started to have we had more.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
People to make arrest, There were more people.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
That were incarcerated, were more.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
People that were taken out of the out of that
zoon and dealt with by law enforcement. And you know what,
I'm old, I believe that works. It did work, and
we moved forward and here we are today.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, thank you for joining
us this morning.
Welcome back to Dakota Mornings Ion your host Michael Bell.
We are joined on the phone by North Dakota Attorney
General Drew Wrigley. Drew, good morning. Thank you for taking
the time to join us this morning.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Of course, it's my pleasure good to be with you
and your listeners.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
We just had some really good news through your hard
work and your team's hard work and efforts over the
course of the last I don't know, fifteen years, seems
like maybe twenty years, but the federal government is finally
going to pay off their old debts to the State
of North Dakota.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, that's right, we needed to know. The State of
North Dakota sued the federal government in federal court seeking
compensation for what we set out was their malfeasons and
nonfeasis by what they did and didn't do during the
Dapple protests, riots and destructive conduct across those months back
(00:58):
in twenty sixteen.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
And so we the matter, you know, persisted.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
For a number of years and then finally came came
to trial. I mean, there were a lot of settlement
discussions in there along the way, but we couldn't get
them to budget any way, shape or form, and we
went to trial here now a little over a year ago,
back in early twenty twenty four. The trial acted, you
(01:24):
know a little over a week or so, and you know,
a trial with two former governors at the time testifying,
Governor Burgham, Governor Dalrymple, and a host of other law.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
Enforcement and other witnesses.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
And we established and the court found that the federal
government through there through their misdeeds and in action during
those protests, that they acted in ways that it made
the situation actually even worse beyond not even helping. So
we were very gratified by the federal court found in
(02:01):
North Dakota's favor and awarded US thirty eight million dollars
in compensation, and they offset that by by ten million dollars.
That Senator Hovan and his team along with then Conreersson Kramer,
that they had gotten the Justice Department to get North
(02:24):
Dakota grant a ten million dollars, so that was offset
of course, and the award was for twenty eight roughly
twenty eight million dollars. What ensued next then, when we
got that award at a little over a year ago,
the federal government then sued North Dakota not sued. They
appealed North Dakota's suit. They appealed that federal court decision,
(02:48):
and we were right back in court, this time in
front of the a certain Court of Appeals. So our
team engaged in some lengthy, detailed at times arguin its
negotiations with the Department of Justice over the course of
several months, culminating with a meeting that I had with
(03:10):
the head of the Civil Division last June. Flew out
to try to finalize those negotiations, and we did, in
fact finalize those negotiations, and then, like a lot of
things the better governments took them, took a year before
we could finally get to the point that the matter
has been completely resolved. So forgive me for the long narrative.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
No, No, I've wanted that a long journey.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
It's been a long journey, Mike. And I'll tell you
when I walked out of the Justice Department in last
June that day, the head of the Civil Division, who
had just at that point just been confirmed by the
United States Senate a couple of weeks before then, but
had clearly taken the time to go through and really
(03:55):
become super familiar with the case to the background, and
we had very fruitful, very candid negotiations, and when we're
walked out of there, we had an agreement in principle
which now has become a full agreement, that North Dakota
would be paid every single penny that the federal court
had ordered, and that along with that they would the
(04:21):
federal government would withdraw all of their appeals. This matter
would then be finalized for North Dakota, so we're completely compensated.
There's no more appeal of that, and we appreciated this
very much. There was an acknowledgment by the federal government
that the actions of the federal government during the Obama
(04:44):
administration had fallen far short of anything that was helpful,
that it had made the situation in some ways worse.
Acknowledged the difficulty that the men and women in uniform,
but the men the people of these can be unities
went through during that time. The destruction of property, the
(05:05):
anxiety for a community that was in many instances overwhelmed
by the violence that was in the surrounding areas. Vehicles
were being stopped, property was being damaged, roadways were being
shut down, Unlawful checkpoints for being established by protesters and rioters,
and the list goes on and on, and you know
(05:27):
that wound was pretty deep YEP in this part of
the world, and you know, people made it through that,
and we're really really pleased to be able to make
people know that the bill has been paid financially completely.
There's been an acknowledgment of the poor conduct of the
Obama administration in our federal government at that time, and
(05:50):
the appeals are done and this this chapter has been
closed well.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
And I want to give you and your team credit
for the acknowledgment that the federal government made that they
fell far, far short in their interactions with the chaos
that was going on, the riots that were going on.
I think that that's almost more important than the money,
although the money is really really important, because this is
(06:18):
a reimbursement, is it not?
Speaker 2 (06:23):
It is? It is Actually, you know, we spent tens
of millions of dollars on putting together in the law
enforcement resources necessary to both attempt to quell the riots themselves,
but then eventually push the rioters and the protesters off
of their encampment, off of every square inch of state land.
(06:47):
And we did that without When I say we were
talking about the men and women in uniforms. Yep, some
of whom weren't even from North Dakota. I'd be brought
in from around the country pursuing to interstate pack the
North Dakota has of other states. I mean, everyone remembers
it was a very high tension film time, and that
we got through all of that without serious bodily injury
(07:07):
or death is a remarkable feat by the men and
women in uniform who did their jobs professionally and well
at tremendous risk to themselves, not to mention the harassment
and threats of the protesters, and more so we we
(07:29):
you know, when I went in it for the negotiations,
I have to say to try to finals, we were
still many millions of dollars apart of the two sides.
And one of the first things that I said to
the leadership of the Justice Department, I said, North Dakota
doesn't need a penny. We don't need one nickel from
the federal government when it comes to our revenues and
our robust economy and where we're at financially and ahead
(07:53):
of them. Civil Division kind of smiled at me and said, oh,
this is going to go a lot faster than I thought.
Both kind of chuckled. We we said the tone for
just a really you know, both of us putting cards
on the table.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
I mean, there was we didn't have sufficient time to sit.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
And bs each other about where we were and how
we got there. And he said, I said, however, and
he kind of laughed and said I had a feeling
there was going to be a however. And we went.
Speaker 4 (08:16):
Into the history of what had.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Taken place, and I was very impressed with their knowledge
of what had been done, and they had clearly immersed
themselves in the facts of the circumstances and the facts
of the litigation itself and the trial which played out
in federal court before federal Judge Dan Traynor was the
districort judge who tried the case. And we got to
(08:40):
a place of resolution, and the last component of it
was he said, it's what I'm hearing through is that
North Dakota needs an acknowledgement. I said, we sure as
hell deserve one, the people of the region, and beyond
deserve and acknowledgement by our federal government. And I said
it was beyond frustrating. And I had the privilege of
serving as Lieutenant governor at that time working line alongside
(09:04):
Governor Jack Dalrymple, who handled those circumstances so ably and
well with utilizing the resources that we had and making
clearheaded decisions as we went along, including when he decided
to call out the North.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
Dakota National Guard who came.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Into the circumstance and also and joined with law enforcement,
setting up like themselves, lawful checkpoints to ensure that that
we're trying to calm the situation and steady the hands
out there. And you know, a lot of decisions were
made along the way, a lot of them caused in
(09:41):
part by a federal government that would not acknowledge the
basic facts such as this is an unlawful encampment. Everybody
knew that it was. They very clear, they it was
very clear, they didn't the permitting requirements for anyone to
be out there for more than a short period time.
All of not to mention, they were using that platform
(10:04):
of that unlawful win caampment as a launching point for
all sorts of illegal conduct and damaging conduct and dangerous
conduct that significantly harmed art or state and region. And
you know, that became sort of a sort of a blueprint,
and they wanted to become sort of a blueprint for
(10:25):
what could happen around the country. So it was very important.
People need to remember this had national and international attentionion
on it. And at the end of the day, North
Dakota handled the situation well and uh without any partnership
from our federal government.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
And and there was federal lands that were involved also,
and UH, you know that was that was moralizing at
times not to have that partnership with our federal government
who knew and acknowledged behind the scenes. Yes, it was
an unlawful in campment. Yes they they saw the videos
and the and the and the drone footage of all
the violence taking place out there, and yet they weren't
(11:05):
willing to do a dang thing in the middle of that.
That was disappointing. But we stand here today having been
compensated financially, have an acknowledgment of the uh of the
poor performance of the Obama administration and the federal government
at that time, and the appeals are done and we
(11:27):
can move forward.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, But the overwhelming number
of rioters which who descended upon North Dakota were from
out of state were not North Dakotin's.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, exactly right. Eventually it had swelln into many, many thousands,
and they were bought and paid for protesters coming in.
And you saw that with the people that were being
arrested dramatically, dramatically large numbers of out of state agitators
paid to come in and disrupt and protest and damage
(12:02):
and uh, you know, give give life to this, to
this effort. And we said throughout and I say again today,
this was not a situation ultimately where the state of
North Dakota and the people of the Standing Rock Indian
Reservation were at loggerheads and we're at war. That was
(12:24):
nothing close to the facts of this circumstance. And what
began as a lawful protest, and there were lawful components
to the protest escalated significantly and then escalated dramatically, and
it was dangerous. And I remember times that we were
(12:45):
speaking with the leadership of the Standing Rock Uh tribe
and we there was a frustration point for them as
well that it has gotten well outside of their control.
And and you know, I met with I met, I
met in a couple of different sale barms out in
Lord County with with citizens out there and people who
wanted to understand a little clear or feeling what was
(13:06):
the administration doing and how are we handling this and
what was the planned and those folks, they were very
quick to point that out there, like standing rock, there
are neighbors, they're our friends, and we're glad to hear
you say that. You know, we recognize this is margely
and out of state protests. That's feeling the worst parts
(13:27):
of what's going on.
Speaker 1 (13:29):
And we need to go to a commercial break. We
will be back. Welcome back to Dakota Morning. As I
am your host, Michael Bell. We are joined on the
phone by North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley. And Drew,
this is you know the old adages you can't fight
city hall. Recognizing as I've characterized that the federal government
is the biggest bully out there, or can be can
(13:49):
be the biggest bully out there, this is proof that
you can fight city hall. You just have to be patient.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
Yeah, you have to be patient.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
You got to be assistant also, and I literally want
to commend there are a number of people in the
Office of Attorney General who have worked on this matter
over the years, handled defosite. In fact, I was deposed
along the way by members of what are now members
of the staff, my colleagues in the offense. Yeah, and
we we they did a fantastic job along the way,
(14:22):
building the foundation upon which all of us uh, you know,
the trial itself, and then our stance going into the
possible appeals here as well. In the end that the
negotiations that we've got to outstanding solicitor general and fell
at uh and he is our solicitor General but also
is handling this matter for the appeals in the A
(14:42):
Circuit and was negotiated with the lead negotiator with the
Department of Justice leading into this finalizing this matter. Really
appreciate his efforts. Matt Saggs, mean, the head of our
Natural Resources division over oversaw a tremendous amount of living,
gation and work on this matter before and leading into
(15:03):
the trial in federal court. So it's been a tremendously
broad effort across this time. And at the end of
the day, you know, we were on the righteous side
of this. North Dkota was wronged. We were not assisted
by a federal government that should have been helping us
when when part of this encampment was on federal land,
and federal land was being used as a as a
(15:24):
station and basis and a platform for this illegal conduct.
And so I added, I appreciated walking out of the
Justice Department one year ago with that acknowledgement. They kind
of chuckled. They pointed upstairs. They said, you know, I
know that you can sign on the line for North
Dakota and bind your state. He's kind of pointed up.
He said, I've got to go up a few floors
and get get approvals for all of this. But we
(15:45):
had had a really fruitful discussion and they saw it
through to the end. And here we are a year
later with it finalized. And and you know, as I
say again, North Crowser had made whole financially and whole
I'll say in a very real way, almost you could
say whole spiritually, because you get an acknowlishment. And so
so hats off to the Morton County Sheriff's department and
(16:10):
all the others, all the others who joined in and
Sheriff kirchmart over there did such a great job, he
and his team, and then all the others who all
the other departments and police departments and sheriff's offices all
over the state of North Dakota, and some from outside
of the state who joined in locked arms and and
(16:30):
put down this riot. It was a it was. It
was at times of slow motion and riot and at
other times nothing close to slow motion. It was you know, mollotop.
Cocktails are being thrown, rocks are being thrown, firearms being
discharged by one protester, other weapons, assaults, threats, property being destroyed,
(16:51):
roadways being taken over. God bless the men and women
in uniform. National Guard.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
Yeah, this is this goes to the professionalism of the
National Guard, the professionalism of law enforcement, the mutual aid
throughout the state of North Dakota. You characterized, nobody was hurt,
nobody was hurt, nobody was killed. This is this is
a direct reflection of the professionalism of the National Guard
and law enforcement in North Dakota one.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Hundred percent right. You know, it was the controversial thing
at the time when Governor Dalrymple called out the National Guard,
and there there were some radio personalities and some others
in the state really calling into questions. Well, I'll say
a couple of things. Number One, they didn't have eyes
on the situation and they wanted to make it political.
They wanted to make it negative about our administration.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
And they were wrong about that.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Number Two, after the National Guard was called in, Chairman
Arshimba was on a national televised doing a doing national
interview of some kind. And when we had our little,
our little daily.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Phone conversation with our federal delegation and our administration had sound,
Senator high.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Camp at the time pointed out that Chairman Archimbau had
been on this national program the night before and she
said he was praising h the action of the State
of North Dakota calling out the National Guard because he
felt that it had done a lot to really settle
down the situation and that you could see all their
presence all around the region and that that had been
(18:23):
a really helpful move and we knew that it would
be and uh, and it was I appreciated that acknowledgment
from Chairman Arshimbau and it was Uh, it was. It
was definitely a turning point in the matter because they
were able to take on some of the responsibilities that
the men up to them, the men that the swarm peace.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Officers had been had been taking.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
A checkpoints and kind of just keeping control of the region.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
And after that we started to have we had more.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
People to make arrest, There were more people.
Speaker 4 (18:52):
That were incarcerated, were more.
Speaker 2 (18:54):
People that were taken out of the out of that
zoon and dealt with by law enforcement. And you know what,
I'm old, I believe that works. It did work, and
we moved forward and here we are today.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, thank you for joining
us this morning.
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