628: 'I pay people the courtesy of candor'

"There are currently three ethics complaints against my office," Attorney General Drew Wrigley said on this episode of Plain Talk.

It's a startling admission, but Wrigley says the complaints are spurious, and that the state Ethics Commission, which he has been outspokenly critical of, is hording complaints like those, instead of clearing them, for political purposes.

"Somebody lodged a complaint that human trafficking is a problem in North Dakota," Wrigley said, describing the complaints. "The legislature has allocated dollars to be handed out in grants through the attorney general's office. There are only three months left in the legislative, in the budget cycle, rather, in the bienium, and they still haven't passed out all the money. Ethics complaint. Three of them."

Wrigley disputed that the Ethics Commission has jurisdiction in two of the complaints and that all three have reasonable explanations unrelated to ethics.

Wrigley says his office has been contacting groups as potential recipients of the funds, but has struggled to find takers. "That's what it is. There it is. But that's been there for three or four months. They've [the Ethics Commission] never even contacted us about it because you know why? They don't want to. They want that backlog to be able to have this discussion."

The attorney general brought up this anecdote to illustrate his argument that the Ethics Commission lacks efficiency, transparency, accountability, and fails to conform to constitutional norms. He is calling on the Ethics Commission to foster a more collaborative and cooperative relationship with the rest of the state government, but my co-host Chad Oban and I asked him how that squares with his own, at times, aggressive behavior toward the commission.

Wrigley says his office's criticisms are about "professional, practical, and legal infirmities" at the commission.

If you want to participate in Plain Talk, just give us a call or text at 701-587-3141. It’s super easy — leave your message, tell us your name and where you’re from, and we might feature it on an upcoming episode. To subscribe to Plain Talk, search for the show wherever you get your podcasts or use one of the links below.

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | Pocket Casts | Episode Archive