Maude family hosted by U.S. Secretary of Ag in Washington
On April 30, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins hosted Charles and Heather Maude at the U.S. Department of Agriculture headquarters after the Trump administration announced the government has dropped criminal charges against the Maude family, South Dakota farmers and ranchers.
According to a news release from the USDA, the Maudes were alerted by the United States Forest Service that fencing on their property blocked access to the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands and in good faith agreed to a survey of the property lines. After the survey was completed, the Maudes lives were turned upside down by the Biden administration where a simple civil dispute over 25 acres of federal land turned into a costly, invasive, and unnecessary criminal prosecution.
Under Rollins’ direction, the USDA introduced a new web portal, usda.gov/lawfare, for potential victims of ongoing “lawfare” beginning under the Biden administration. The site is a place to submit concerns and experiences.
“President Trump is directing his cabinet to ensure no citizen of this country is unfairly targeted on politically motivated witch hunts,” Rollins said. “That is what happened to the Maudes, and I am working to ensure no farmer, rancher or customer who works with USDA will ever endure baseless political persecution.”
Rollins’ team is working to promptly address the situation and encouraged those who are dealing with issues of lawfare to visit the site.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem appreciated the family’s strength through the ordeal.
“South Dakota’s motto has always been ‘Under God, the people rule,’” Noem said. “The power was given in our Constitution to the people, and that we should always respect that and recognize that many of the wrongs that were done under the last administration can be fixed and are being fixed every single day.”
South Dakota’s Gov. Larry Rhoden said the situation hits close to home for him, as his ranch is just 70 miles from Maude’s.
“The Maude family has been put through hell by an overreaching federal government,” he said. “I am honored to have played a part alongside Secretary Rollins and the Trump administration to restore sanity, fairness, and justice.”
South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds agreed, saying hard work and common sense have finally prevailed.
“I am happy to see we have finally reached a positive resolution, but this massive government overreach from the Biden administration should have never happened in the first place,” Rounds said. “We must continue our work to stop this from ever happening again.”
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, Wyoming, hopes the leadership of the president and his administration, Rollins and the Attorney General Pam Biondi, help the government to work for the people, instead of against them.
“The case against the Maudes is a glaring example of the dangers of unelected bureaucrats with far too much power weaponizing the full force of the federal government in an unconstitutional effort to make felons out of farmers,” she said. “Sadly, this type of behavior was commonplace during the past four years, but President Trump knows firsthand the catastrophic implications of lawfare imposed by an overreaching government and the dismissal of this case shows that ‘business as usual’ is no more.”
Kylene Scott can be reached at 620-227-1804 or [email protected].
