MINOT — Sandi Sanford, chair of the North Dakota Republican Party, joined this episode of Plain Talk from the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee, where, she said, “the security plan changed drastically” after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

Republicans have been focused on unity at this event — two of Trump’s top rivals during the primaries, Gov. Ron DeSantis and former ambassador Nikki Haley, endorsed him in speeches at the convention — but Sanford acknowledged to my co-host Chad Oban and me that this may be a heavy lift.

“People know that what we’re dealing with in North Dakota with the different factions,” she said, initially calling the populist wing of the party the “far right” before correcting herself and describing them as “grassroots.”

The NDGOP delegation to the national convention

wasn’t necessarily behind Gov. Doug Burgum potentially being Trump’s running mate

(Burgum himself was passed over for a delegate slot by the NDGOP’s state convention), but Sanford said she felt the delegates were “really confident in Donald Trump and his pick.”

“It gets dicey,” she said of intraparty politics. “It can get cruel,” but Sanford said her job is to keep the factions united. “I’m bringing people together.”

Sanford also addressed a visit to the North Dakota delegation from Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union (the organization which puts on the Conservative Political Action Conference). In March, Schlapp paid

a nearly half-million settlement

to a man he allegedly made unwanted sexual advances toward. “My delegation wanted to hear from CPAC,” she said, adding that Schlapp was “on a speaking circle” addressing several state delegations.

Also on this episode, we discuss how the assassination attempt on Trump might impact the rest of this presidential election cycle and whether Democrats will replace incumbent President Joe Biden.

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BY: JEFF BEACH

KILLDEER, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – A North Dakota investor says the purchase of a financially-troubled meat company is progressing with a percentage of the profits being used to pay back investors in the alleged Ponzi scheme over several years. 

Wylie Bice of Killdeer, who is among those who lost money by investing in Texas-based Agridime, told the North Dakota Monitor that a price has been agreed upon to buy the company. 

“Our offer is reasonable,” Bice said. 

But several steps remain before the deal can close. 

The court-appointed official overseeing the company said in a July 8 update on Agridime.com that federal law requires three separate appraisals for each parcel of property being sold, “which is not a quick process.”

The update did not say a deal has been reached, but when it is, it would be submitted to the court for a 30-day review and objection period before it can close. 

Bice said the final agreement would likely include a percentage of the profits of the company be used to pay back investors over a designated period of years. 

“There’s always a chance they might get more than they had invested if things go really good,” Bice said. 

Investors in several states, including a high-concentration in North Dakota, lost millions of dollars by investing in Agridime. Agridime bought cattle, had them brought up to market weight at feedlots and processed in retail cuts of meat. The company then direct-marketed the beef through its website. 

It also sold investments in calves, promising as much as a 30% return on investment without having to do the work of ranching. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission in December accused the company of operating as a Ponzi scheme by taking money from new investors to pay off previous investors instead of investing that money into cattle. 

The North Dakota Securities Department said a Killdeer-based sales agent, Taylor Bang, earned $6 million in commissions from illegal cattle investment contracts through Agridime. 

Bang told the North Dakota Monitor in December that the figure was “way high.” 

While it is under investigation, a slimmed-down version of the company has continued to operate as American Grazed Beef. 

Bice said that if the deal is approved, he and his partners would likely keep the American Grazed Beef name. 

The investments in calves, however, would not be a part of the business plan. 

“No, I don’t think they’ll fall for that twice,” Bice said. 

Bice, Bang, and other North Dakota investors lost an estimated $40 million in the Agridime scheme. 

Overall, investors in at least 15 states are out an estimated $191 million. 

The July 8 update also says investors should be notified by the end of the month with a calculation of what they are owed. 

Investors will have 30 days to review these calculations and notify the court-appointed receiver  of any issues. 

“There were approximately 40,325 transactions made by Agridime between 2021-2023, and it took a bit of work in the company’s bank records to determine what amounts were being paid to whom,” the update said. 

It also said a motion will be filed with the court outlining the forensic accounting analysis of Agridime between 2021 and December 2023. The motion “will provide insight into the company’s operations during that time period and whether the company was paying returns on older investor contracts with money received from new investors.”

BISMARCK, ND (kxnet) — Members of the North Dakota Rural Water Systems Association (NDRWSA) celebrated their 50th Anniversary on Tuesday, July 16, at North Dakota’s Gateway to Science in Bismarck.

The association was established with a mission to ensure that all North Dakotans had access to affordable and clean drinking water. It was founded the same year that the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Gerald Ford.

Since then, the NDRWSA has helped many rural areas across the state with funding and construction of water systems, giving clean and affordable drinking water to many North Dakotans living in rural communities across our state.

“So, even after 50 years, there’s still people out there, in Rural North Dakota that are hauling water. There’s still people in small communities that drink sub-standard water,” said Eric Volk, Executive Director of NDRWSA.

Volk says the association still has more important work to do in the coming years to ensure other rural communities are not forgotten. “There’s partnerships out there, between the State of North Dakota, the Federal Government, and the local entities. I think we all can accomplish our goal,” of expanding access to more rural communities he said.

Volk adds that a little over 300,000 people in North Dakota receive their drinking water from rural water systems, that serve 268 towns across the state.