McFeely: Rot in the North Dakota Republican Party

FARGO — There is rot in the North Dakota Republican Party, which is not surprising. When a group holds absolute power for as long as the NDGOP has held absolute power, there are no checks and balances, no accountability, no self-governance.

You can do what you want, no matter the ethics involved, and even if the powerless opposition party or the media point out the obvious problems, those with absolute power shrug or smirk or both and continue to be reelected by massive margins because guns, abortion, the border, wokeness or something.

This leads to, among many other things, Republican legislators getting sweetheart deals from the state, emails from the state’s attorney general and his deputy mysteriously evaporating into thin air, the current attorney general looking the other way, nobody held accountable (whatever happened to ol’ Liz Brocker, anyway?) and life going on today pretty much like it did yesterday and the day before that.

Nothing to see here, folks, move along.

This is how corruption works, whether it’s in Chicago or Bismarck.

Which, from the outside looking in, is sort of impressive when you take into account the brazenness. North Dakota Republicans are so confident they either won’t get caught or, if they do, nothing serious will happen that they happily go about their daily business of self-dealing and taking care of those who take care of them (read: oil business) without a care in the world. They simply don’t care.

It’s a Mississippi-style insider ballgame, worthy of a wink-wink here and a smirk there.

Until children are allegedly being raped in Prague using taxpayer dollars.

That’s the allegation against former Republican state Sen. Ray Holmberg, of Grand Forks,

long one of the most powerful people in the state legislature because he held such sway over the purse strings. A federal indictment says Holmberg “repeatedly traveled” to Prague, Czech Republic, between 2011 and 2016 for the purpose of engaging in child sex tourism with a person under the age of 18.

Minors can’t give sexual consent by law. And so when an adult has sex with them, it’s rape.

Holmberg is also accused of receiving and attempting to receive child pornography. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Forum reported Wednesday

Holmberg used state-issued money from an international program to travel to Prague at least three times.

Receipts also showed Holmberg traveled to Berlin and Amsterdam as part of the state’s relationship with Global Bridges, an organization that facilitates trips for various groups, including political leaders.

The North Dakota Legislature approved money from the general fund to the North Dakota School Board Association for Global Bridges trips taken by legislators.

Holmberg, Rep. Bob Martinson and his brother and former School Board Association Executive Director Jon Martinson — a former Republican legislator from Bismarck — chose who went on the trips, according to letters authorizing the travel. Jon Martinson was executive director of the association from 2000 to June 30, 2017, but told KFGO radio host Joel Heitkamp on Wednesday he continued to go on the European trips even after retiring.

Bob Martinson, a Republican from Bismarck, has sat on the House appropriations committee since 1997. Holmberg was longtime chair of the Senate appropriations committee before retiring in 2022 after The Forum reported he had texted with a child porn suspect.

Holmberg and Bob Martinson controlled the money, folks. And Jon Martinson is Bob’s brother. The Legislature approved from $150,000 to $250,000 per biennium from 2013 through 2019 for the school board association to take trips, according to legislative records, trips that Holmberg and Jon Martinson took.

Does insider trading get anymore inside than that?

Who knew what was going on? When did they know it? Why didn’t they say anything?

Having absolute power perhaps meant nobody felt the need.

Wink-wink. Smirk.

The result, according to the feds, is that Holmberg traveled to Europe multiple times to have sex with children. On the taxpayer dime. On your dime.

That is not Chicago- or Mississippi-style politics. That is rot. Right here in North Dakota.

Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He’s been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.