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464: 'I watched the video. I was deeply disappointed.'
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House Majority Leader Mike Lefor, a Republican from Bismarck, says that shortly after Rep. Nico Rios was arrested for driving under the influence, he got a call from the Williston lawmaker. Rios acknowledged the arrest during that conversation, but according to Lefor, he left out the verbal abuse and bigoted slurs he hurled at members of the Williston Police Department involved in the arrest.
"At no time did he let me know about any videos," Lefor said on this episode of Plain Talk. "I watched the video. I was deeply disappointed," he added.
Lefor and other North Dakota Republican leaders, including those in Rios's legislative district, have called for the lawmaker to resign. "I don't think there's a place in the Legislature, or the party, for someone who talks like that to a police officer," he said.
Rios, so far, hasn't resigned. Asked what the next steps would be if the lawmaker clings to office, Lefor raised the possibility of a recall. "I wouldn't be surprised if there was a movement to remove him from that office," Lefor said. He didn't mention the possibility of expelling Rios. That would require a vote of the full House of Representatives, and as things stand now, the Legislature won't convene again until January of 2025.
But, in the mean time, Lefor says he's working on what he can do to remove Rios from the House Judiciary Committee, which handles law enforcement matters among other topics. Lefor says he wouldn't want a member of law enforcement to have to testify in front of Rios.
Lefor also commented on the legal controversy around redistricting. A federal judge struck down a map drawn by lawmakers, saying it is out of compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act. The judge set a deadline for lawmakers to draw a new map, but that has come and gone as the state has appealed the ruling. The judge said he could choose a map himself if lawmakers don't act, but so far that hasn't happened. Lefor says the Legislature continues the process of developing a new map, but said at any point the judge could rule again, at which point lawmakers would have to respond.
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