FARGO — State emails of former North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem that were once thought to be deleted have been made public.
The Forum received 2,052 of Stenehjem's emails late Wednesday afternoon, March 27, from the Attorney General’s Office through an open records request made in June 2022.
In his initial reaction to the open records request, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in July 2022 that Stenehjem’s spokeswoman and chief assistant, Liz Brocker, ordered the emails to be deleted just days after Stenehjem’s death on Jan. 28, 2022.
Wrigley took over the office in early February 2022, after the emails were deleted.
Wrigley revealed earlier this month to The Forum that Stenehjem’s emails were copied to a Bureau of Criminal Investigation computer at the Attorney General’s Office after Stenehjem’s phone was unlocked by the BCI in June 2023. Either Stenehjem’s wife or Brocker asked for the phone to be unlocked so his family could use photos and other information on the phone for his funeral, Wrigley said.
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The BCI realized on Feb. 7, 2024, that Stenehjem’s phone was downloaded to one of its computers, Wrigley said. The signal to delete the emails didn’t reach the phone for an unknown reason, meaning the deleted emails remained on the phone, Wrigley added.
Investigators sought a search warrant for the phone, believing it contained evidence of a crime, Wrigley said. He made clear that does not mean Stenehjem committed a crime.
Stenehjem’s close friend, former Sen. Ray Holmberg of Grand Forks, faces federal charges that allege he attempted to receive or received child sex abuse materials between Nov. 24, 2012, and March 4, 2013. He also was accused of traveling to Prague with intentions to sexually abuse a minor from June 24, 2011, to Nov. 1, 2016.
Holmberg denied the allegations. His trial is slated to begin Sept. 9 in Fargo at the U.S. District Courthouse for North Dakota.
Stenehjem was named as a witness in the case, Wrigley said.
The Forum requested the emails in 2022 because Stenehjem racked up $1.8 million in unanticipated costs while renovating a leased building in Bismarck where the BCI and other state offices are located. After Wrigley revealed the emails still exist, The Forum renewed its request, asking for all of Stenehjem's emails copied to the BCI computer.
The emails make up more than 2,700 pages.
In the note attached to the released emails, Suzie Weigel, executive assistant to the attorney general, noted other emails would be released "as they become available."
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What's in the emails
The emails released Wednesday are from 2021 and 2022 and are from Stenehjem's state-issued account. Wrigley previously said it's unknown if all of Stenehjem's state emails were copied to his phone and, ultimately, the BCI computer.
It's also unclear if any emails were withheld from The Forum for investigative purposes. Wrigley didn't immediately respond to a voice message left by The Forum on Wednesday.
An initial review of the emails by The Forum did not uncover any mention of the overrun costs. The batch of emails also sparsely mentions Holmberg and his interactions with Stenehjem.
The one time the two exchanged emails in the documents made available Wednesday was about two months before Stenehjem's death. In that exchange, Holmberg sent Stenehjem a Grand Forks Herald story about the state banning special assessments on nonprofit cemeteries. The story mentions Stenehjem, Holmberg noted in the Dec. 3, 2021, email.
Stenehjem replied, "The law seems to have stood the test of time."
In another email, Parrell Grossman, the consumer protection and antitrust director at Stenehjem's office, notified Stenehjem on Dec. 17, 2021, that Nicholas Morgan-Derosier was indicted on federal charges.
The Forum connected Morgan-Derosier to Holmberg through text messages they exchanged while Morgan-Derosier was in jail on child sex abuse charges in August 2021. A transcript of Morgan-Derosier's January 2022 hearing revealed a “77-year-old man from Grand Forks” asked or told Morgan-Derosier in an Aug. 23, 2021, text message "to bring (Morgan-Derosier’s boyfriend) over to his house to give him a massage.”
Jail records revealed Morgan-Derosier and someone using Holmberg's phone number exchanged multiple messages. Holmberg admitted texting Morgan-Derosier, but he denied that any messages were about a massage.
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Before Holmberg's indictment in October, The Forum obtained an email sent to Stenehjem from Grossman's account. Grossman told Stenehjem on June 24, 2021, that a judge signed off on an order regarding a construction fraud case against Morgan-Derosier.
"Good work," Stenehjem said. "Let's hope this brings the matter to a conclusion."
That email was not in the most recent open records request despite being part of Stenehjem's state emails.
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