Trump cabinet, state powerbrokers went to bat for S.D. ranch couple
Charles and Heather Maude had faced criminal prosecution in land dispute
President Donald Trump's administration and Republican leaders from across the country say the prosecution of a South Dakota ranching family was politically motivated.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued statements Monday criticizing what they called an overreach by the federal government against Charles and Heather Maude, whose family has ranched near the Cheyenne River and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands for more than a century. The statements came after the indictments against the couple were dismissed.
