BISMARCK - A journal belonging to the communications chief for the state workers' compensation bureau describes a plot to force a county prosecutor out of office for charging two agency officials with felonies.
Burleigh County State's Attorney Richard Riha filed criminal charges against Workforce Safety and Insurance CEO Sandy Blunt and WSI's fraud unit director in April.
Mark Armstrong's journal - seized Friday by law enforcement officers - also describes discussions and meetings Armstrong and other supporters of Blunt held in a campaign to create positive publicity for Blunt.
Armstrong, who is a Burleigh County commissioner, at a news conference on Wednesday, defended his role in discussing a plan to gather 50 signatures and present them to the Burleigh County Commission or the governor "to force Riha out."
The plan never materialized.
ADVERTISEMENT
Armstrong said it is his right as a citizen to discuss such petitions against a county official.
Armstrong claims the journal he kept in his desk drawer was seized a day after he discovered someone had rummaged through his office while he was on vacation.
He said Wednesday that he suspects one of three WSI officials who have sought whistleblower protection from the attorney general may be the person who rifled his office and then, apparently, called law enforcement officials about the journal, saying it contained evidence of a crime.
Armstrong said several other items from his office are missing and disappeared before the state Crime Bureau and Highway Patrol took the journal on Friday. The officers did not seize anything except the journal, he said.
The three seeking whistleblower protection are Jim Long, WSI chief of support service; Jodi Bjornson, general counsel; and Billi Peltz, human resources manager. They say they fear retaliation from Blunt or others at WSI for trying to report wrongdoing at the agency.
Long's letter to the attorney general reads, in part, "I have read an employee log detailing a plan to gather 50 signatures to oust Riha."
Long could not be reached for comment Wednesday. A woman who answered the phone at his home said he was not available and would not comment.
Blunt and the fraud unit director, Romi Leingang, have been cleared of all charges. Two counts accusing Blunt of misapplying state funds were dismissed by a judge in August and prosecutors asked for a dismissal last week of charges that Leingang and Blunt conspired to release confidential driver's license information.
ADVERTISEMENT
Armstrong said an April 24 reference in his journal to "secret documents" being distributed appears to have sparked the seizure. He said it was a joking reference to packets delivered to the Capitol Press Room containing an anonymous letter from Blunt outlining why the charges against him were bogus. No reporters wrote about the anonymous letter. The delivery was the day before the Legislature wrapped up.
Armstrong wrote in his journal that he and other Blunt supporters - including Steve Cates of Bismarck, publisher of a conservative magazine, The Beacon, and Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck - met to put together information they felt exonerated Blunt.
"There are several smoking guns that, if played right, should blow this case out of the water," Armstrong wrote. He kept the journal from April 18 - the day Blunt and Leingang were charged - until May 8.
Cole works for Forum Communications Co., which owns The Forum. She can be reached at (701) 224-0830 or forumcap@btinet.net
Secret WSI plot: Force Riha out Janell Cole 20071025
