Five North Dakotan Legislators Take All-Expense Paid Trip to Antigua

[rmgustaf]

BISMARCK – Five North Dakota legislators – including four from Fargo – took a four-day, all-expenses paid trip to Antigua earlier this month on an unofficial trade mission paid for by the tiny Caribbean island country.

Rep. Jim Kasper arranged the trip for fellow state House Republican representatives Mark Dosch, Bette Grande, Ron Iverson and Blair Thoreson. All but Dosch, who’s from Bismarck, represent Fargo districts at the Capitol.

Two others, Rep. Dave Weiler, R-Bismarck, and Sen. Duaine Espegard, R-Grand Forks, were invited but did not go.

An Oct. 1 Antiguan government news release said the trip was to discuss Internet gaming.

“High on the agenda will be discussions on Internet gaming and the development of a corresponding banking relationship with the Bank of North Dakota, the only state-owned bank in the United States managed by the legislators,” the release said.

North Dakota state law does not require legislators to disclose how much lobbyists spend on them and as long as public funds are not used, no harm no foul.

But does anyone else think it's odd that when five legislators travel to a foreign country on some kind of unofficial trade delegation, they don't tell anyone about it?

Kasper said he didn't want to get anybody's hopes up by talking about the trip beforehand. He denied he even took the trip before acknowledging it. According to the Forum, when he was "first contacted had no comment about the trip and wouldn’t acknowledge it happened," even though Kasper himself said there are "500 reasons where I see potential for North Dakota to work with Antigua.”

I've shovelled shit before - literally. This is pretty damn close.