Federal judge denies Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller's efforts to stop disciplinary proceedings

Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, R-Rapid City, was stripped of her committee assignments on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller, R-Rapid City, was stripped of her committee assignments on Wednesday, Jan. 25.

A federal judge has ruled against Rapid City Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller in her efforts to halt Senate investigative committee proceedings against her and re-instate her responsibilities, following graphic comments she allegedly made to a legislative staffer about vaccines and breastfeeding last week.

The ruling came down Tuesday afternoon by Judge Roberto Lange, a day after Frye-Mueller and her attorney filed a lawsuit against Sen. Lee Schoenbeck, R- Watertown and the President Pro Tem of the Senate, to protect her First Amendment rights.

More:Investigation committee releases more details of Sen. Julie Frye-Mueller complaint

That filing, done by Steven Haugaard, a Sioux Falls attorney and former legislator, was minutes after the Senate voted on rules for the Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion, focused on investigating the comments made by Frye-Mueller on Jan. 25 to a legislative staffer, which led to the senator's suspension from the legislative body.

The filing was ultimately seen as a request for a temporary restraining order against Schoenbeck without notice to Schoenbeck, the judge determined.

The judge ultimately ruled, however, Frye-Mueller "failed to satisfy the requirements for a temporary restraining order, because there was no written certification of 'any efforts made to give notice and the reasons why[notice] should not be required.'"

The federal judge has said a hearing on the preliminary injunction will take place either Feb. 7 or Feb. 10.

"This Court wants to hear from both sides before issuing a substantive order,and thus prefers transforming this injunction request from an ex parte request for temporary restraining order to a preliminary injunction hearing," the judge stated. "This Court understands the need for prompt attention to the ease, indeed to the point of entering this order the morning after the filing of the Complaint."

The judge has also ordered Frye-Mueller to go through the the proper channels to serve Schoenbeck with pleadings in the case.

The ruling also came down about the same time the Senate voted for the Attorney General's office to represent Schoenbeck.

What are the allegations against Frye-Mueller?

Prior to Monday's vote by the Senate on the committee's rules, a printed complaint released by the Select Committee on Discipline and Expulsion featured the staffer's recall of the conversation she had on Jan. 14 with Frye-Mueller. The staffer's name was redacted.

According to the staffer, Frye-Mueller and her husband Mike Mueller came into her office at about 3:30 p.m. to speak about a draft bill the staffer had been working on. Mike Mueller had called the staffer earlier in the day and left a message about the draft bill, which the staffer said was unusual.

The staffer said Mike Mueller had previously told her he was protective of his wife. Because of this, the staffer stated, "I do feel that I must be careful of what I say or do in his presence, so I don't upset him or Senator Frye-Mueller. I believe this was a contributing factor as to why I did not end the conversation as soon as I began to feel uncomfortable."

After the discussion about the bill, Sen. Frye-Mueller asked the staffer about her baby and asked if the infant was vaccinated, according to the complaint. When the staffer answered yes, Frye-Mueller said vaccinations could cause issues such as Down syndrome or autism.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found that vaccines do not cause autism.

Frye-Mueller then went on to tell the staffer, "he will die from those vaccines," according to the complaint.

The discussion then moved from vaccines to breastfeeding, according to the complaint. The staffer said she was formula feeding her child that then led Frye-Mueller to give an explicit description of how to have milk come in.

The document stated the senator made hand gestures to her chest area and also suggested the staffer could have "my husband suck on my breasts."

According to the staffer, Frye-Mueller was also aggressive about vaccinations and told her not to vaccinate her child anymore. The staffer ended the conversation by saying she would think about what had been said.

The incident was reported Jan. 25, when the staffer spoke with the Deputy Director of the Legislative Research Council.

What has Frye-Mueller said?

But comments Frye-Mueller made in a discussion with Senate Republican Leadership last Wednesday were inconsistent with the report made by the staffer and by Frye-Mueller’s own public comments.

On Saturday, Frye-Mueller held a press conference in Rapid City, where she spoke at length about her conversation with the staffer who she regarded as a friend. She has not disclosed in detail what the conversation was about, citing privacy reasons.

Frye-Mueller said it was a maternal issue that the staffer had provided her with and Frye-Mueller shared, "the advice I provided her, which was the same I received as a young mother."

She added the actions taken against her by the Senate were "extreme and egregious" and questioned why she had been stripped of her voting rights when a former senator did not have the same actions taken against him when he was investigated for inappropriate behavior with a senate page.

Dan Sutton was accused in 2006 of molesting a male page weeks before his re-election, according to reporting at the time. Sutton, a Democrat who at first resigned from his current term then won his re-election, was investigated in 2007 and was the first lawmaker in South Dakota modern history to be censured.

However, during the investigation, Sutton was able to keep his role on the Senate floor, something Frye-Mueller was stripped of Thursday.

"I've had all my rights stripped, all of them," Frye-Mueller said. "To date, I still haven't received a formal written complaint."

She added her legislative email has been shut down.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Sen. Frye-Mueller's efforts to stop disciplinary proceedings denied