HELENA — The Montana Senate and the state’s Legislative Audit Division have officially referred an investigation into a former state Senate president to the Montana Department of Justice.
Legislative Auditor Angus Maciver confirmed to MTN this weekend that he made a referral related to their review of Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, and his handling of a state contract, but he declined to give any more details about the referral, “pending further guidance from DOJ.”
Last month, Senate President Sen. Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, asked the Audit Division to look into Ellsworth's reported approval of a $170,000 contract with a former business associate. An initial report from LAD said Ellsworth’s actions had demonstrated “abuse and waste” – findings Ellsworth and his attorney disputed.
In a statement Monday, the Audit Division said their investigation had identified “apparent violations of state law,” but that the best place to determine how to proceed with the allegations was a law enforcement agency.
“Apparent does not mean conclusive, hence the need for additional investigation,” they said.
LAD said they looked further at documents gathered through the Senate Ethics Committee’s subpoena process, but determined they didn’t provide more relevant information. They said they now considered their review concluded, and that, since the matter had been turned over to law enforcement, it would not be appropriate to make any further comments.
Regier also sent a letter to Attorney General Austin Knudsen Friday, stating that he was forwarding the Senate’s investigation into Ellsworth to DOJ – but asking Knudsen to clarify whether the department would be pursuing any potential violations of Senate ethics or rules. It was his official response to a vote earlier this month, where Democrats and a breakaway group of Republicans directed that the Ethics Committee investigation of Ellsworth be delayed while the allegations were referred to DOJ.
“Despite serious concerns about whether the Senate can legally hand off our Ethics Committee investigation to the Department of Justice, on Friday I made a referral in compliance with the Senate’s vote to send the ethics matter to the Attorney General,” Regier said in a statement Saturday.
Regier said in his letter that he believed ethical violations, as opposed to criminal allegations, would not be in Knudsen’s jurisdiction and that the Senate should retain all jurisdiction over discipline on those claims.
Senate Democrats said in a statement that the Legislative Auditor’s referral had affirmed what they had asked for in their motion.
“We are glad to hear that the matter is in the hands of the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the State,” said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, in a statement. “Given the Legislative Auditor’s findings, we expect the Attorney General will carry out a thorough and timely investigation of this matter. Since the Senate Ethics Committee process became overly political and several of the charges were criminal in nature, I moved to refer this issue to the DOJ. That is the appropriate place for this investigation. Meanwhile, the Senate can now focus clearly on the priorities of the people.”
A spokesperson for the Montana Department of Justice told MTN they had received the referral from the Audit Division but were still reviewing it and could not comment further at this point.
Joan Mell, Ellsworth’s attorney, was sharply critical of the auditor’s referral, saying he should have disclosed more supporting documentation to justify his office’s findings. She said one email released as part of the subpoena supported Ellsworth’s claim that he had not wanted to split the $170,000 into two smaller contracts – one of the main allegations from the auditor’s initial report.
“McIver says he reviewed subpoenaed documents and claims the records support his findings,” Mell said in a statement to MTN. “They do not.”
Mell called the auditor’s report “hogwash motivated by political bias intended to harm Ellsworth.”
