This looks like it could get pretty interesting so break out the popcorn and pull up a seat:
http://www.kcrg.com/...
Iowa landowner claims he was offered prostitute by oil pipeline company
Hughie Tweedy of rural Montrose told reporters Monday that a regional representative of Dakota Access LLC on three separate occasions offered “the sexual services of a woman” if Tweedy would allow the pipeline to run through his property.
Dakota Access, a subsidiary of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, wants to construct a 1,134-mile pipeline to carry crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The $3.8 billion pipeline would span 343 miles and 18 counties in Iowa, from the state’s northwest corner to the southeast corner.
Hughie Tweedy is (besides wonderfully named) a self described 'junkyard dog libertarian' who isn't going to be swayed by offers of sexual favors.
Tweedy said he does not want the pipeline to run through his property, and as a self-described Libertarian, he does not think the government should force him to acquiesce via eminent domain.
Tweedy said he has expressed his position multiple times to Dakota Access officials. Tweedy said the company’s regional representative offered “a $1,200 teenage prostitute” in exchange for his cooperation.
The company in question does not seem to be denying this... probably because Tweedy claims to have audio recordings he is willing to turn over to investigators:
“We are aware of allegations that have been made concerning the conduct of an employee of one of our contractors,” Dakota Access spokeswoman Vicki Anderson Granado said in an emailed response. “We take these types of matters very seriously and are investigating further.”
Tweedy said he recorded two of the face-to-face conversations over beers. He said his lawyer recommended he not play the recording for the media because it may be used in possible future litigation. He said he would be willing to give them to state investigators if subpoenaed.
Rawstory has a couple of other colorful quotes from Tweedy:
http://www.rawstory.com/...
"If an old junkyard dog like me was offered the sexual services of little girls to get my hackles down, I wonder what was offered to the powerbrokers of this state to gain their support for silence,” said Tweedy, a self-described libertarian. “Shame, shame, shame”
and..
“From the beginning I’ve been treated like a hick and a fool,” Tweedy said. “I very well may be a hick, but I am no fool and I don’t think most Iowans are.”
Tweedy says he went public with his allegations to:
encourage lawmakers to pass a bill currently under consideration in the Iowa Senate that would require pipeline developers to pay legal fees for landowners who can’t afford to hire their own attorney to advise them on land lease contracts
Which to me... sounds like a damn fine idea in the absence of other ones. Hopefully fellow libertarian Rand Paul jumps on the bandwagon to support this fine American.