FARGO, N.D. (AP) - No state money or resources were used for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to attend the annual meeting of the Alfalfa Club and an exclusive party in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, a Burgum spokesman said.
Burgum, a former Microsoft executive , and his wife, Kathryn Helgaas Burgum, were guests of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Members of the Alfalfa Cub include some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in the nation.
Burgum spokesman Mike Nowatzki told KFGO-AM that Burgum was “on personal business,” and that no tax dollars or state resources, including the state aircraft, were used for the trip.
The trip “was an opportunity to build relationships and promote North Dakota with people at the highest levels of government and business,” Nowatzki said.
A party that followed the meeting was hosted by Amazon founder and The Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos.
A state audit in 2018 said the wealthy first-term Republican governor inappropriately used state aircraft for personal travel, something Burgum has denied.
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