Sec. Brooke Rollins, AG Pam Bondi, and Sec. Kristi Noem held a press briefing on Wednesday in support of the Maude family after charges were dropped against them.
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00:00Well, good morning, everyone, and thank you for being here.
00:17I want to thank especially our members of the press.
00:19We think this is a really important day.
00:22And just somewhat coincidentally, but maybe not ironically,
00:26today is the 100th day celebration of President Trump and our administration.
00:33We have a really important thing to talk about today,
00:36and you'll get to hear very quickly from the incredible people standing behind me.
00:40No one more incredible than the Maude family.
00:43But before I turn it over to Charles and Heather and their beautiful children,
00:47a couple of quick top points to be made.
00:50Eleven days ago, Americans came together to mark the 250th anniversary of a fight for freedom that continues to this day.
01:00The commemorations of Lexington and Concord are not mere memorials of a bygone time.
01:07The Minutemen, who were farmers and townsmen alike, did not bear arms for causes irrelevant to us now.
01:14They were content to be citizens, but they fought because they refused to be subjects.
01:21And having exhausted their appeals to an insensible king and a contemptuous parliament across many long years,
01:28they knew that only one appeal remains, the appeal to heaven.
01:33The arbitrary quality of royal government, its claim of unlimited power,
01:37and its wholesale willingness to destroy the lives and the livelihoods of all who opposed it,
01:44even in the slightest respect, was precisely what made it so abhorrent.
01:50Our forefathers won the revolution to rid themselves of it,
01:55and in that sense, to oppose it is the most American thing imaginable.
02:00To perpetuate and pursue it, on the other hand, to assert that government unaccountable to the people
02:07nevertheless possesses the prerogative to rule and ruin the people is the most un-American thing imaginable.
02:16It is precisely what America exists to defy, to prevent, and every day to fight against.
02:23This un-American sentiment, this claim to the right to rule without recourse,
02:29is also precisely the prerogative that some bureaucrats under the Biden regime decided to assert,
02:36and their targets were an innocent and unimpeachable American farm and ranch family,
02:43the Mauds of South Dakota, who join us here today.
02:47This family, targeted solely over what should have been a minor civil dispute over grazing rights on 25 acres of public land,
02:58was prosecuted, credibly threatened with jail sentences so extreme
03:04that they were told to find alternatives to raise their young children.
03:10Charles and Heather Maud live on a fifth-generation family farm in Pennington County, South Dakota,
03:16close to Mount Rushmore.
03:19There, they farm 400 acres, they raise about 250 head of cattle, and about 40 sows.
03:28Twenty-five acres of their property touched upon the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands,
03:34which is administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
03:38The Forest Service allowed them an informal agreement for their cattle to graze for decades,
03:43and the family assumed that a process was underway to clearly survey and establish the boundaries.
03:50But that didn't happen.
03:52The Biden administration criminally charged the Maud family for theft of government property.
03:59And for too long, for years now, they have endured a torturous legal process
04:05and suffered as victims of the Biden regime's reckless lawfare.
04:10Just imagine a government that would be willing to de facto orphan American children
04:17over a mere dispute of 25 acres of land.
04:23The men of Lexington and Concord knew what sort of government was like, knew what that sort
04:29of government was like, and they knew what to do about it.
04:33The Maud family, too, faced with destructions at the hand of the state, made their appeal to heaven,
04:40and Providence answered.
04:41Thanks to the leadership and the unequivocal and bold leadership of President Trump
04:47and his directive to put Americans first,
04:51we have the pleasure to announce that the criminal prosecution of the Mauds is now over.
04:57They will not be driven from their home.
05:00They will not be jailed.
05:01They will not be fined.
05:03And their children will grow up with the mother and the father they love and who love them.
05:09In our rejoicing, we must also find resolution.
05:13The prosecution of the Mauds should never have happened.
05:16And the fact that it did is, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, a great farmer himself,
05:23it is a fire bell in the night.
05:25We must awaken to what it means that this appeal and recourse were even necessary at all.
05:31We must understand what it signifies that an American family has suffered what the Mauds have suffered.
05:40It means there is a spirit of rule within our federal bureaucracy.
05:45It is an arrogance that forgets that the law is there to serve the people and not the people to serve the law.
05:53It is a vicious sentiment that sees Americans as subjects, not as citizens.
05:58It is, in short, the timeless enemy of Americans and free men everywhere in any time.
06:05Today, we are gathered to celebrate the passage of the Maud family from the straits to which they never should have been subjected to
06:13or could have ever even imagined.
06:16For them, we wish them well.
06:19They deserve their reprieve and they deserve this peace.
06:22I want to thank the Mauds attorneys, especially my friend Brett Tillman, who has represented the family pro bono
06:29and has committed to do so for any farmer or rancher in need moving forward.
06:34But hopefully, he won't need to do that because, working across the Trump administration,
06:41we will ensure that all similar Biden-era prosecutions against law-abiding Americans are immediately addressed.
06:50We are ending regulation by prosecution in America and investigating how and why this wrongful prosecution
06:59of an American ranching family ever occurred in the first place.
07:04We are excited to announce this morning that USDA, right now at this moment,
07:09is launching a portal at USDA.gov for all American farmers, ranchers, and producers
07:16who were subject to the similar egregious lawfare from the Biden administration.
07:21We will work with our counterparts, including my great colleague, Secretary Kristi Noem and others,
07:27across the Trump government to address any other government overreach in situations like this.
07:34We must ensure that our farmers and our ranchers have not and will not be targeted for living the American way of life.
07:43I also want to thank the incredible patriots behind me, many of whom you'll be hearing from quickly in just a second.
07:50Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, of course, the former governor of South Dakota.
07:55Governor Rodin from South Dakota in with us today.
07:59Senator Mike Rounds, Representative Dusty Johnson, and Representative Harriet Hageman,
08:04all, each of whom, has spent a huge amount of time and passion and effort to help this family.
08:10And for that, I thank them.
08:12Right now, I want to introduce the family, Charles and Heather Mott.
08:16I also want to introduce, as I mentioned, their pro bono, their attorney, Brett Tolman.
08:21Charles is a fifth-generation rancher and farmer from South Dakota, fifth generation.
08:27When he was 17, he bought the land from his grandfather when he was 17.
08:33He is a graduate, a proud graduate, Kristi, of South Dakota State University.
08:39As I mentioned, a cattle sow and row crop farmer.
08:44And truly one of the greatest Americans that you will ever meet, alongside his incredible wife, Heather,
08:49and their two children, nine-year-old and 11-year-old, Kennedy and Lyle.
08:57Thank you all.
08:58Please help me welcome the incredible Mott family.
09:00My name is Kennedy Mott.
09:16My name is Lyle Mott.
09:19I'm Charles Mott, and I just thank all of you for being here today and all that you've done to help us.
09:26I'll let my wife speak.
09:27Thank you all for being here.
09:33My name is Heather Mott.
09:34I am the officially elected spokesman by these three.
09:38We would like to thank you all for being here.
09:40We would like to thank the people behind us for being here,
09:44Secretary Rollins, Secretary Noem, Dusty Johnson, Larry Roden,
09:48and Mike Brown from the state of South Dakota, and Harriet Hageman.
09:52We are incredibly grateful to the Trump administration
09:55and all of these key players that have done so much so quickly
09:59relative to what we were facing before to get us where we are today.
10:02And I would just like to take a moment to briefly reiterate a bit of what Brooke said.
10:07We are both fifth-generation farmers and ranchers.
10:10Our families have a combined 250-plus years in production agriculture.
10:15We paused briefly in that pursuit in our grandfather's generation
10:19when both of my grandfathers fought in World War II,
10:23and Charles' great-grandmother is a four-star war mom,
10:26meaning that four of her sons went to war and all four went home.
10:30But before and after fighting for the freedoms of this nation,
10:33we have pursued our primary passion that led Charles and I to find each other,
10:37which is production agriculture.
10:40And when this hit, it hit at the heart and soul of our place
10:45that has been in Charles' family since 1910.
10:49They came to the area in 1907 and purchased the adjoining property in 1910
10:54and have managed it without issue and with great care since.
10:59And when this unnecessary grievance came to our family,
11:03we knew that we were innocent of any wrongdoing,
11:05and we sought to find a resolution,
11:08and that was not forthcoming from the other side.
11:10So again, I'm going to list some people that we've worked with the most directly,
11:14but I know there are a great many others behind the scenes,
11:16and we appreciate all of that help.
11:19We have my press gals that initially broke this when we could not speak.
11:23We have Carrie Stadtheim, editor of Tri-State Livestock News,
11:27Rachel Gable, assistant editor of The Fence Post,
11:29and Mariah Tibbetts, who is not with those publications anymore,
11:34but did quite a bit of editing behind the scenes.
11:36Healy Covello with American Unwon,
11:38and it kind of grew from there.
11:41I've listed several of the people behind me.
11:43We also have Karen Thalen,
11:44who is currently serving as the Department of Interior Associate Deputy Secretary.
11:49We had members of RCAP were the first ones to come and view the allotment,
11:54and Shad Sullivan picked up quite a bit of press for us on this and has really helped.
12:00We have Ethan Lane,
12:01Senior Vice President of Governor Affairs within CDA,
12:04who is instrumental and really helped us get this going right off the bat.
12:08Caitlin Glover, Executive Director of the Public Lands Council,
12:10who I'm very fortunate to have known for a number of years
12:13and who has just been by our side from day one,
12:17and we appreciate that.
12:19Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation,
12:21South Dakota Stock Growers Association.
12:24Our South Dakota State Representative,
12:26Liz May, brought 15 state legislative people
12:29and elected officials here the first weekend of April
12:32to view the allotment,
12:33and they have done a great deal of work since.
12:35We appreciate all of their efforts on our behalf.
12:39I want to thank my mom and dad,
12:40and I'd like to thank Charles' parents too.
12:45Our neighbors who stood up for us
12:47at the threat of retribution to their own operations
12:53that they still face until we get this completely resolved,
12:57and we are so thankful for the efforts that are being rolled out today
13:00to help make progress in the right direction.
13:03And everyone else who wrote,
13:05who contributed financially,
13:06and who prayed for us,
13:08may God bless you,
13:09and God bless America,
13:11and God bless American agriculture.
13:14I'll just say real quickly,
13:22facts and law become very, very important, obviously.
13:25Many people don't know that the mods were on this land
13:29even before the Forest Service existed.
13:32Just think about that aspect of it.
13:34I'm honored to fight for them.
13:36I hope that I don't have more clients
13:39that are in this situation,
13:40but what Secretary Rollins said is true.
13:44We want to represent farmers and ranchers
13:46that are going through this.
13:47There is nothing more devastating
13:50than watching the criminal law used
13:53to actually hammer a family or an individual.
13:57We all saw what happened with President Trump,
14:00and we all saw his reaction to that,
14:03but what you may not have noticed
14:04was he realized that this is how the law is now being abused,
14:10is it's targeting individuals
14:12and going after them
14:13when they don't have criminal intent.
14:15I want to thank the President for going through that
14:17and for also the mandate to all of us
14:19to find those instances
14:21in which we can help bring justice
14:23to those that don't have a voice.
14:25Thank you, Secretary Rollins.
14:27Thank you so much.
14:28Thank you, Brett.
14:30At this point, it's my great honor
14:32to welcome to the podium
14:34Secretary Kristi Noem,
14:36of course, our Secretary of Homeland Security,
14:37but former governor of South Dakota
14:39and herself a farmer and a rancher.
14:42So, Secretary Noem, what an honor to have you here.
14:45Thank you so much.
14:46Well, good morning.
14:48It's so wonderful to be with all of you,
14:49and what an honor to be here
14:51to see justice come for this family.
14:53Charles and Heather and Lyle and Kennedy
14:55have literally been through hell.
14:57They have been threatened
14:59with not just their livelihoods,
15:00but their freedom by the Biden administration,
15:03and today that is rectified.
15:04And it's rectified because of the leadership
15:06of President Trump and an advocate
15:08and a fearless fighter in Secretary Rollins.
15:11I'm so grateful to her for listening
15:14and for taking action when others refuse to do so.
15:17I first wrote a letter to the Biden administration
15:20and to Secretary Vilsack over a year ago
15:22about this issue of the prosecution of the Maude family.
15:25Asked him to look into it,
15:26to stop the persecution,
15:27to give them the freedom to operate their land
15:30like so many had before them for many generations.
15:33That letter was completely ignored.
15:36I followed up with several phone calls.
15:38I spoke directly to Secretary Vilsack about it,
15:41and he completely ignored our pleas for justice.
15:44Listen, I know I'm a farmer and rancher
15:46of many generations,
15:48and land is everything to farmers and ranchers.
15:50It's our legacy.
15:51It's what we leave our kids.
15:52In fact, I've always believed that
15:54God might just love farmers and ranchers
15:56a little bit more.
15:58Because if you look at scripture,
16:00it talks over and over and over again
16:02about sowing and reaping and the harvest
16:04and cattle on a thousand hills.
16:06And in this country,
16:07we recognize that food policy
16:09is a national security issue.
16:11We have many farmers and ranchers out on our land
16:13because it is important
16:15that we always be able to feed ourselves
16:17in the United States of America,
16:19that we don't have one person
16:21or one country controlling our food supply.
16:23Therefore, we have policies in place
16:25and families in place like the Mauds
16:27to protect our food supply
16:29so we can continue to be free
16:31and under the vision that our founders gave us
16:34with the greatest experiment in human history,
16:36which is the United States of America.
16:38So I'm so grateful to this family for their strength.
16:42I'm grateful for Brett for his work
16:44in defending them and doing so
16:46to save them a little bit of dollars
16:49that they could continue to put into their operation
16:51and raise their family.
16:52I'm so disgusted by the Biden administration
16:55that they would do this and persecute a family
16:57and threaten to take their children away from them
16:59just because they wanted to be political
17:02and they wanted to do a land grab of land
17:04that never belonged to them to begin with.
17:06In South Dakota,
17:07our motto has always been
17:09under God the people rule.
17:11And I hope this country remembers that,
17:13that we aren't controlled by a federal government
17:14that should attack people
17:15and prosecute them criminally.
17:17We aren't controlled even by leaders
17:19at the state or local level.
17:20The power was given in our Constitution to the people
17:23and that we should always respect that
17:25and recognize that many of the rights
17:27that were done under the last administration
17:29can be fixed and are being fixed every single day
17:32because of leaders like Secretary Rollins,
17:35because of our hard work
17:36in listening and understanding
17:37the challenges that are out there
17:39and because President Trump is in the White House
17:41and he's bold and he's fearless
17:43and he's taking action on so many of these things.
17:45So thank you to the lieutenant governor
17:48that is now the governor of South Dakota
17:50for his discussions in this the whole way along.
17:53He was constantly giving me updates
17:55on what he heard about the Maud family
17:57and how they were suffering.
17:58He brought it to my attention
18:00when we first heard about the prosecution,
18:03discussed it many times
18:04and was supportive of the letters that were written
18:07and the calls that were made as well.
18:09And so I thank him for his leadership
18:10and the others that are serving in Congress behind me,
18:13Dusty Johnson, Senator Rollins, Harriet Hickman.
18:16They've just been fantastic and unified
18:18in making sure that we saw the right thing get done today
18:21and will continue fighting
18:23for our nation's farmers and ranchers.
18:25God bless you.
18:29Speaking of the governor of South Dakota,
18:31I've talked to a lot of people
18:32over the last few weeks about this case,
18:34but no one more than Governor Rodin.
18:36So certainly appreciate his diligence on this issue
18:40and the conversations we had many, many times
18:43and getting to this point himself,
18:45a farmer and a rancher,
18:47Governor Rodin of South Dakota.
18:54Well, good morning.
18:55It's an honor to be alongside Secretary Rollins
18:59and the Maud family.
19:01The Maud family has been put through hell
19:03by the overreaching federal government.
19:06And today we restore sanity,
19:08we restore fairness and justice,
19:11and we send a clear message to the American people
19:14that this administration stands with you.
19:18The federal government threatened the Mauds
19:20with up to a quarter million dollar fine
19:22and 10 years in prison,
19:24all for working the land
19:25that put food on the table for the American people.
19:29Here in Washington,
19:30we're about 1,500 miles away from their home ranch.
19:37And that doesn't,
19:38so it doesn't strike too close to home for a lot of people,
19:42but it strikes close to home for me.
19:44My ranch is about 70 miles from their ranch
19:48on land that my family's ranched for generations.
19:52And their ranch has been in their hands
19:56for a number of generations.
19:59I have spent my entire career in public service
20:03fighting for property rights,
20:05for freedom from government intrusion,
20:08and for a government that follows common sense.
20:11Seven years ago,
20:14a lifelong farmer and rancher became governor.
20:19And she picked me as her lieutenant governor.
20:21Of course, that was Christy Noam.
20:22As far as we know,
20:23we're the first governor, lieutenant governor
20:25that were farmer ranchers,
20:27possibly in the history of the nation.
20:29And we went immediately to work
20:32for the farmers and ranchers of South Dakota.
20:35So when the mod situation came up over a year ago,
20:38we went to work.
20:39We did our work quietly so we could be effective.
20:43Governor Noam asked Secretary Vilsack to back off,
20:46and we never publicized that.
20:48It wasn't about picking a fight
20:50with the Biden administration.
20:52And it wasn't about chasing headlines.
20:55It was about delivering real results
20:57for Charles and Heather Maude.
21:00Unfortunately, Secretary Vilsack,
21:02President Biden ignored our pleas.
21:06But that all changed in November.
21:09President Trump was elected by the American people,
21:13and he chose my friend Christy Noam
21:14to be a Secretary of Homeland Security.
21:16And he chose Brooke Rawlins
21:19to be the Secretary of Agriculture.
21:23And I rose to the office of Governor of South Dakota.
21:26It was less than a month after that,
21:28I visited D.C.
21:31and met with Trump administration officials.
21:35And I met Secretary Rawlins.
21:38And I was immediately impressed.
21:41And I think we hit it off.
21:43We started talking about the mod situation.
21:45We talked about the Biden administration's unjust
21:49and unfair prosecution.
21:51After that, we had several conversations
21:54about what could be done.
21:57And we kept it quiet,
21:59just like Governor Noam and I did a year ago.
22:02And then Secretary Rawlins went to work.
22:04Both last year and this year,
22:07the mods had a governor of South Dakota
22:09who was advocating for them.
22:11Both Governor Noam and myself were chasing results,
22:14not headlines.
22:16But there was a key difference.
22:19Now we have a Secretary of Agriculture
22:21and a president
22:22who recognizes the proper role of government.
22:25So the mods get to leave today free.
22:30So thank you again, Secretary Rawlins,
22:33for your common-sense decision-making
22:34and for taking steps to make sure
22:37this sort of thing can happen again.
22:41Thank you to Secretary Noam
22:42for trusting me as you're running me
22:44and for advancing this issue last year.
22:47And I want to say especially
22:49thank you to the Maugham family.
22:52We know what you've been put through.
22:54But we want to thank you for the tough work
22:56that only a fellow rancher can truly understand.
23:00And thank you for being strong
23:02and steadfast and resilient
23:04like the West River Ranch land
23:06that you and your family
23:08have ranched for generations.
23:11God bless you.
23:12Thank you all.
23:13Thank you, Governor.
23:18Senator Mike Rounds,
23:19former governor of South Dakota himself.
23:22The governors are the guardians of the gate,
23:24I often say.
23:25Also, former state senator,
23:26one of his highest priorities
23:28is protecting our farmers and ranchers.
23:30And there is no greater advocate
23:31here in Washington than the senator.
23:33So thank you, Senator Rounds, for being here.
23:38Look, I want to be very brief today.
23:41This isn't about us.
23:42This is about a family from South Dakota
23:44who was unfairly and unjustly persecuted
23:48by the federal government.
23:50We could see it plain as day over a year ago.
23:54And this isn't the first case
23:55that we've seen like this.
23:57It's happened before to people we know,
23:59people who we're friends and neighbors with,
24:02people that we care about.
24:04This needs to stop.
24:06I sincerely thank President Trump,
24:08Secretary Rollins,
24:09Attorney General Bondi,
24:11for righting this wrong.
24:13You're delivering for the people of South Dakota,
24:15and we thank you for that.
24:17Now, I look forward to rooting out
24:19every single bad actor in these federal agencies
24:22who use their position
24:23to go after private citizens.
24:26We need to follow up on this case,
24:28hold any and all bad actors to account,
24:31and make sure that it never happens again.
24:34If you're a bad actor,
24:36you don't belong in a position of power.
24:39If process and procedures need to change,
24:41we can help with that.
24:43Sign me up.
24:45Again, our goal should be
24:47for this to never, ever happen again,
24:51which is why I've introduced legislation
24:53that creates a formal mediation process
24:55for land-boundary disputes
24:57between landowners and the Forest Service.
25:02You know, this should be common sense,
25:05but in a broken Washington, D.C.,
25:07it'll probably take an act of Congress.
25:10And finally, I do want to thank one more person.
25:13That's Jim Seltzer on my staff.
25:17He's a West River cowboy,
25:18and he works tirelessly on this case.
25:20He never let us forget about it.
25:22He was there from the beginning.
25:23He's a friend to these folks.
25:26He's a neighbor to these folks.
25:27He goes to church with these folks.
25:29He let out my phone, my texts, and my email
25:32at all hours of the day.
25:34And I'm really, really thankful
25:35to have such a good team
25:37to help us take care of people.
25:39So I want to say thanks again to Jim,
25:40and I want to thank thanks to the Maud family
25:42for persevering through this.
25:44This should never, ever happen again in America.
25:53Congressman Dusty Johnson.
25:58He is here with us as well,
25:59a member of the House Ag Committee,
26:01and specifically representing the Maud family.
26:04Congressman Johnson, thank you.
26:08Ladies and gentlemen,
26:09there are indeed bad men and bad women in this world,
26:13those who conduct acts of evil in the darkness.
26:16I mean, we would all want a federal government
26:19that would prioritize the prosecution of those villains.
26:23What kind of an administration,
26:24what kind of a government
26:26instead prosecutes Charles and Heather Maud?
26:33They have been remarkable.
26:36After I talked to Charles at Dakota Fest,
26:38I walked away and said to his staffer,
26:40it is amazing how calm he is in the eye of the hurricane,
26:45how resolute he is.
26:48The Mauds have had an intestinal fortitude.
26:51They knew maybe because of their faith
26:53that if they continued to work on this,
26:56that better days were ahead.
26:59Success has made fathers and mothers,
27:03and indeed a lot of very great people have been gathered.
27:05But I also, and I've got to say something about Harriet,
27:09for a year, almost not a month has gone by
27:13where Harriet and I haven't been talking about this,
27:16because she has a passion.
27:18This has been her career work,
27:21making sure that the federal government
27:23does not overstep its bounds.
27:26And Chairman Westerman and Chairman Jordan,
27:28who also joined with us in lending their voices,
27:31their phone calls, their pens to this effort,
27:34I just, I want to thank Secretary Rollins,
27:37I want to thank Secretary Noem,
27:38I want to thank President Donald Trump.
27:40Elections have consequences.
27:43And so today is a good day,
27:46and I just, from the bottom of my heart,
27:49want to apologize to Charles and Heather and their family,
27:53and I want to thank them for their persistence.
28:00Our final speaker, speaking of Congressman Hageman,
28:03who has just been so relentless on this
28:06and is her true warrior,
28:07from the neighboring state of Wyoming,
28:11defender of Wyoming landowners,
28:13constitutional right to own and manage private property,
28:16no greater warrior than the amazing Harriet.
28:19And then Press will take questions
28:20as soon as she finishes.
28:22Here.
28:26Charles and Heather, Lyle and Kennedy,
28:28we are all so glad to have you here
28:31on this beautiful day for civil liberty.
28:34Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
28:37And boy, was this an abuse of power.
28:40This case was a clear example
28:42of the dangers of unelected bureaucrats
28:44with far too much power,
28:45weaponizing the full force of the federal government
28:48against a small family operation
28:49that has been in place for generations.
28:52The last four years brought the misuse
28:54of federal law enforcement's powers
28:56against the American people.
28:59The mods experienced this,
29:00having an armed rogue agent show up on their doorstep,
29:03never having been given any kind of indication
29:06that there was cause for concern.
29:08The agent had complete disregard
29:10for the decades-long relationship
29:12between the mods family and the agency,
29:15and used his role in an unconstitutional effort
29:18to make felons out of farmers.
29:20But gone are the days of a government
29:23working against the people.
29:24Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump
29:27and those individuals he surrounded himself with,
29:31like Secretary Rollins and Attorney General Bondi,
29:34we now, once again, have a government of,
29:37by, and for the people.
29:40Within his first 100 days in office,
29:42the President has addressed and resolved
29:44multiple measures taken by the last administration
29:46to prosecute hard-working Americans.
29:50President Trump knows firsthand
29:51the catastrophic implications of lawfare
29:54imposed by an overreaching government,
29:57and actions like this show that
29:58business as usual is no more.
30:02Charles and Heather, I want to commend you.
30:04You are an example of what real America is all about.
30:08When everything was being thrown at you,
30:10you stayed the course and kept the faith.
30:12You continued to tend to your fields,
30:14care for your livestock, and raise your children.
30:16Even though the future was completely unknown
30:19and seemingly late.
30:21Your integrity and tenacity are an example for all of us,
30:25and I hold you in the highest regard.
30:28Secretary Watt-Rollins,
30:29you have been wonderful to work with,
30:31and your vision for a farmer-first approach
30:34is one we can all get behind.
30:37I look forward to working with you
30:39to continue to ensure private property rights,
30:41address the needs of rural states like mine,
30:44and continue to work with you
30:46to make rural America thrive.
30:50Thank you again for having me here today,
30:52and God bless you all.
30:57Okay, we're happy to answer any questions.
30:59Thank you all.
30:59Yes, sir.
31:00I'm curious if you've heard from Secretary Burgum at all
31:03about other cases like this,
31:05about the apparatus within the federal government
31:07that inflicted this pain on the family,
31:09and what you plan to do about it.
31:12Yes, well, as—
31:12Sorry, Scott Hanna, the Flake Family Media
31:14in North and South Dakota.
31:15Oh, great to see you again.
31:17Yes, sir.
31:18I think that this is one of the main reasons.
31:20First of all, I wanted to do this event today,
31:23and we're headed over, Secretary Nome and I,
31:25to a Cabinet meeting in about an hour.
31:27The President gives us the opportunity,
31:29which usually he does,
31:31that I plan to talk about this case
31:32during the Cabinet meeting as well.
31:34I think that they are one of, unfortunately,
31:39many that is facing and that are facing
31:42these sort of reckless consequences
31:45from their own government.
31:46And I believe what President Trump,
31:49with Secretary Nome, our entire Cabinet,
31:51what we represent is a new day in Washington
31:53and returning the power to the people
31:55as our founders envisioned.
31:57And what happened to the Maude family
31:59goes directly to the heart and the soul
32:02of what and who we represent
32:05and what we're doing in America.
32:07So, yes, those conversations are ongoing
32:09with our friends across the Cabinet.
32:11Of course, I'm very focused on farmers and ranchers,
32:13but this is for all Americans
32:15that have been treated unfairly by their government.
32:18The waters of the United States,
32:20Lee Zeldin is looking at that right now,
32:22our friend over at EPA.
32:23We're hopefully going to be working
32:25very closely together.
32:26As I mentioned, at USCA.gov,
32:29we've opened up a portal to begin
32:30to take these stories
32:32and begin to take action.
32:33Secretary Nome, I'd love any thoughts
32:34you might have on that as well.
32:37Yes, I think that's what's so important
32:39about what President Trump
32:40and Secretary Rollins are doing right now,
32:42and especially by telling the story
32:44of the Maude family and their testimony.
32:47What it does is it raises awareness
32:48for every farmer and rancher out there
32:50that has been persecuted,
32:51they're not the only ones,
32:53that there is help available,
32:54that they have a president
32:55that understands and respects
32:56the rule of law and the Constitution,
32:59and that they even have lawyers
33:00who will work for them pro bono
33:02to make sure that they can get relief for it.
33:04That if you reach out to leaders
33:06in Washington, D.C. now,
33:08that you will get answers,
33:10people will pick up the phone,
33:11and that they will respond to you.
33:13What was shocking to me
33:14under the Biden administration
33:15is how they just ignored
33:17the American people.
33:18If they weren't ignoring them,
33:20they were trying to lock them up
33:21and put them in jail
33:22and throw the key away.
33:23I have letters in my Department
33:25of Homeland Security
33:26from senators, from congressmen,
33:29from people
33:29that didn't get responded to
33:31for four years.
33:33Not even a response of a form letter
33:35was sent back to them
33:36answering their questions
33:37or bringing any transparency
33:38to government.
33:39So I hope that the Maude's
33:41will be proud of the fact
33:43that while they were persecuted,
33:46that at least it's a game changer
33:47for somebody else in this country,
33:49that we have rectified
33:50what has been wrong in this country
33:52for so many years
33:53and that we have new leadership
33:54that understands
33:55what is important.
33:56You know, many times
33:57people have talked about
33:58challenges and hardships,
34:00and I would say
34:00they're difficult to get through,
34:02but they make you stronger,
34:04and they make you more aware,
34:05and they educate you.
34:06I hope this family
34:07will be able to be stronger
34:09each and every day
34:10because of what they went through
34:11and continue to use it
34:12to tell their story
34:13so it never happens
34:14to another ranching family again.
34:16Well said.
34:17Next question.
34:19Hi.
34:20Tony Kennett, Daily Signal.
34:21A quick question on,
34:23I know you guys talked about
34:24the portal for ongoing situations
34:26where the Biden administration
34:28prosecuted American landowners.
34:30Do you guys see a process
34:31in the future,
34:32either through an audit
34:33or some type of investigation,
34:35into prior cases
34:36handled by the federal government?
34:38Many individuals may think
34:39that their case is already lost.
34:41They're not ready to, you know,
34:42submit something through the portal.
34:43Anything to review past cases
34:45of government bureaucracy overreach?
34:46In the first Trump administration,
34:48we took a good look at that,
34:50and I am quite sure
34:53that every minute of every day
34:56that Christy and I
34:57and our colleagues in the cabinet
34:59and we're serving President Trump
35:00and Vice President Vance
35:01and the American people,
35:03that we will never let up
35:05on doing what is right,
35:06and I believe that's also
35:08a backward-looking view as well.
35:10So yes.
35:10The senator mentioned
35:15that he was looking at legislation,
35:17but is there something
35:19that the Forest Service can do already
35:21before you even have to have legislation
35:23to try to handle disputes like this?
35:26And if I could also have a follow-up
35:27for Secretary Noem,
35:29how do you feel about your protection
35:31from the Secret Service,
35:33given what happened with the incident
35:36at the restaurant recently in Washington?
35:37I'm Evan Perez for CNN.
35:41Look, here's the deal.
35:43If this was in South Dakota,
35:45common sense would just say
35:46you sit down and figure out
35:47whether or not the fence line is right.
35:49This is not complicated.
35:51So you work your way through it.
35:52Neighbors would do this
35:53on a regular basis.
35:55If you thought you were
35:55in the wrong spot
35:56or you had a survey
35:58that had been done
35:59a hundred years ago
36:00and you needed to update it
36:01or perhaps a quick
36:02and change direction
36:03or anything along that line at all,
36:05common sense would say
36:06you come on in and sit down
36:07and work your way through it.
36:09I meant that when I said
36:10this should not take an act of Congress.
36:12I don't think during this administration
36:14with the approach
36:16that President Trump has taken,
36:18I don't think you're going to find him
36:19out going after farmers and ranchers
36:22because of the boundary dispute.
36:24I think what you will find
36:25during this administration
36:27is when they sit down
36:28and they work their way through it,
36:29whether it's because of
36:31an issue surrounding a waterway
36:35or because of a meandering creek
36:38or anything along that line at all.
36:40But this is the time
36:41in which you fix it
36:43so that when future generations
36:45have to deal with this kind of thing
36:46with a different attitude
36:47in an administration,
36:49that they know that there is
36:50a process in place
36:51that protects their rights.
36:53There's a process in place
36:54so you don't have the threat
36:56of a criminal prosecution
36:57over a land boundary dispute.
37:00It shouldn't take an act of Congress.
37:04But in this case,
37:05in Washington, D.C.,
37:06it probably will.
37:08And let me just address
37:09very quickly the Forest Service.
37:10We are under a significant
37:11reform analysis and reorganization.
37:15And so news will be coming out
37:17on that soon.
37:18But let me just say quickly,
37:19and I'll turn it over
37:20to Secretary Noem,
37:21that the leadership
37:22of the Forest Service,
37:23in fact, many of the careers,
37:26all of the careers
37:27that I've met with,
37:28our firefighters,
37:29our wildfire,
37:30firefighters on the front line,
37:31we have tens of thousands
37:33of Forest Service employees
37:35here at USDA.
37:36And to a person,
37:38the ones that I have met
37:39have been hardworking
37:40and patriotic,
37:41and I'm so proud of that team
37:43that works to keep our countries
37:45and our forests safe.
37:47But as we have learned
37:48here in Washington,
37:49certainly under Trump 1,
37:51again under Trump 2,
37:52is that there are
37:54a lot of rogue bureaucrats
37:56and the administrative state
37:57is ruling way too much
37:59of America right now.
38:01And that is what
38:02President Trump has tasked us
38:04to fix,
38:05and that is what we will fix.
38:09You know what I would say
38:10about the Forest Service
38:11and the Biden administration
38:12is they did not have
38:13to take this action.
38:14They chose to take
38:15this aggressive persecution
38:16of this family
38:17to the extent that they did.
38:19There are already provisions
38:21in law that allow
38:22the Forest Service
38:23to resolve this
38:24and could have given
38:25the Maude family
38:26the land that their family
38:27has been on for generations
38:29without a fight like this,
38:31without a persecution like this.
38:33So this was a purposeful attack
38:36on their family
38:36and their freedom
38:37and their livelihood
38:38that, thank goodness,
38:39because of a new administration,
38:41we don't have anymore today.
38:42As in regards to your question,
38:44we have Sean Curran,
38:46who's the new director
38:46of Secret Service
38:47who I have full faith
38:48and trust in.
38:49And I would also say
38:50that my experience
38:51was just a little bit
38:52of what the American people
38:53have been living with
38:54for years.
38:55The American people
38:56have been living in communities
38:57where they've been victimized
38:59by illegal criminal aliens,
39:01and the perpetrators
39:02of the crime against me
39:03had done this dozens of times
39:05to people across this country
39:07over and over and over again
39:09from city to city.
39:10I'm thankful they're off the streets.
39:12I'm thankful that they're now
39:13going to face the punishment
39:14for their crimes,
39:15and it gives me new motivation
39:17and the president new motivation
39:18every day to continue
39:20to do the work that we're doing,
39:21and that is cleaning up America
39:22and making sure
39:23that we're getting it safe again
39:24for the families who live here.
39:28One quick thing.
39:28I hope it isn't lost
39:29on the press especially
39:30that while we're standing here
39:32with a fifth-generation rancher
39:34with their two young children
39:36who are great Americans
39:37who've never done anything wrong,
39:39that the Biden administration
39:41was actively working
39:44to put in prison
39:45while at the same time
39:48many of those same elected officials
39:51on the other side
39:52are actively working
39:54to get out of prison
39:56gang members,
39:57illegal aliens, etc.
39:59We are not the same,
40:00and I think that's an important point
40:02to make today.
40:03Yes, sir, on the end.
40:04Hey there.
40:05Luke Barlow,
40:06and I've seen this for Secretary of Health.
40:08You're the former governor.
40:09You're a rancher.
40:10I guess, what does this mean to you
40:11that the charges
40:12against this family were dropped?
40:14And then if I can,
40:15the Pakistani government
40:16says they arrested an ISIS suspect
40:18linked to the New Orleans Day
40:19terrorist attack.
40:20Can you talk to us
40:21a little bit about
40:22what the foreign nexus
40:23of the suspect is
40:24and if they'll come to the U.S.
40:25to face charges?
40:26Well, I don't want to speak
40:27specifics on that investigation
40:29that's still ongoing,
40:30but yes,
40:31this is someone who's tied
40:32to those New Year Days
40:33attack that happened
40:34in New Orleans,
40:35and we're grateful
40:36that this investigative work
40:37continues to go on
40:38every single day
40:39to bring these terrorists
40:40to justice.
40:41You know, President Trump,
40:42since he's been in office,
40:43we have removed
40:44over 240 known terrorists,
40:48people that are
40:48on the terrorist watch list
40:50that we have picked up
40:51and removed from this country
40:52already because of his leadership
40:54and his focus on law and order.
40:56So I'm just so grateful for him
40:58that he recognizes the danger
41:00that we're in in this country
41:01and know that there are
41:02many more out there
41:02that we still have to
41:04make sure that we're removing
41:05to keep our country safe.
41:07So many times when we talk
41:08about national security,
41:09we talk about it
41:10from beyond our borders.
41:11We have people in this country
41:13living here who hate us,
41:14who want to destroy us,
41:15that President Trump
41:16is determined to remove,
41:18and that's one of the examples
41:19of the success
41:21that our investigators
41:22and our law enforcement
41:22have been able to have.
41:24What I would say
41:24about the Maude family
41:26and their ability
41:27to stand here today
41:29and know these criminal charges
41:30have been dropped,
41:32I'm extremely grateful
41:33and overwhelmed
41:34by the blessings of that,
41:35but I am still heartbroken
41:37at what they had to go through.
41:38I cannot imagine
41:39what their nights were like,
41:41tucking their kids into bed,
41:42wondering if they were going
41:43to get to wake them up
41:44the next morning
41:45because they didn't know
41:46when the next Forest Service
41:48or law enforcement official
41:49would show up
41:50in tactical gear
41:50at their door
41:51and just take them away.
41:52They threatened to take them
41:54away from their children
41:55because of this dispute
41:56that this family
41:57did nothing wrong
41:58and fully cooperated on.
41:59So I just think about
42:01those nights they went through,
42:02the financial hardships
42:03that they went through
42:05trying to figure out
42:05what their future was.
42:07I'm grateful we're here
42:08where we are today,
42:09but let it be a lesson
42:09to all of us
42:10that we should put ourselves
42:11in their shoes
42:12for five minutes
42:13and think about
42:14what they went through
42:15and ensure and promise
42:16to ourselves
42:16that it never happens again.
42:19Yes, sir.
42:20In the blue.
42:22And this is the last question.
42:24Yes, sir.
42:24Max Cotton with Gray Media.
42:36This is also for Secretary Nome.
42:38We're talking a lot
42:39about government agents
42:41showing up.
42:42Well, an Oklahoma family
42:44of American citizens
42:45recently said that
42:46ICE agents showed up
42:48at their door
42:49and raided their house
42:51and they said, quote,
42:53traumatized them
42:54and took their belongings,
42:55including their life savings
42:56and electronics.
42:58What's being done
42:59to ensure that
43:00American citizens
43:01aren't raided by ICE?
43:03I will tell you
43:03that every single case
43:05that we are tackling right now
43:07is based on a case
43:08that is built up
43:09over much research,
43:11enforcement,
43:13information from different branches,
43:15whether it be local,
43:16states' attorneys,
43:17U.S. attorneys,
43:18the DEA, ATF,
43:19the cooperation that we're seeing
43:21at the local and state level
43:22to build the cases
43:23of where we go
43:24and what we do
43:25to interdict criminals
43:26is done and done properly.
43:29So every single
43:30specific situation
43:31I can't speak to directly,
43:34but I will tell you
43:34that I trust
43:36that the work
43:36that is being done
43:37is being done appropriately
43:38and that when we are
43:39interdicting certain individuals,
43:41it's because of
43:42the perpetuating crimes
43:43that they have conducted
43:44throughout their communities
43:45and throughout their states
43:46and country.
43:48Great.
43:49Thank you all very much.
43:50Thank you for coming today.
43:51Thank you all.