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Montana Senate votes to delay Ellsworth ethics investigation

Jason Ellsworth
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HELENA — Emotions ran high Thursday afternoon on the Montana Senate floor, as members approved a motion that would delay the Senate Ethics Committee’s investigation into a former Senate president.

By a 27-22 vote, senators approved a request by Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, to refer the allegations against Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, to the Montana Department of Justice. The motion also suspended for now the Ethics Committee’s investigation, which had been set to begin hearings as soon as next week.

(Watch the video to see some of the heated debate on the motion.)

Montana Senate votes to delay Ellsworth ethics investigation, refer to Department of Justice

Ellsworth has been accused of not following the proper procedure when approving a $170,000 state contract late last year, and a Legislative Audit Division report said his handling of the contract had demonstrated “abuse and waste.” Ellsworth and his attorney have pushed back against those findings.

Flowers’ motion was supported by all 18 Senate Democrats and by the nine Republicans – including Ellsworth – who have broken with their party leadership on several rules votes since the start of the session. It came after Senate GOP leaders announced they would hold a vote Friday on whether to remove Ellsworth from the Senate Finance and Claims Committee.

Flowers said the ethics process within the Senate had become too politicized and that, since the accusations against Ellsworth have included potential criminal conduct, it was proper for a prosecutor to look into them.

“I understand the frustration, but the reality is we are not looking away from what has been alleged – we are putting it in the hands of the rightful entity to fully investigate and prosecute as needed,” he said. “And we also have left the door open when that investigation is completed, for it to come back to our ethics committee here and take our appropriate action following that.”

Republicans who opposed the motion said this was not the proper role for the Department of Justice. After the vote, a number of them delivered speeches, saying they were angry and embarrassed by a decision they argued would sweep ethics concerns under the rug.

“You guys just said – I’ll look at every one of you – you all just said ethics doesn't matter anymore to us,” said Sen. Mark Noland, R-Bigfork. “That’s what you said.”

“All 50 of us have seen probably what the worst of politics looks like, and you all know what part you played in this,” said Sen. Becky Beard, R-Elliston.

“What was done today is why the public has little respect for legislative bodies at times,” said Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told MTN Thursday that they will review the referral from the Senate when they receive it, to see if there are possible steps for DOJ to take, but that it’s too soon to comment further now.

Ellsworth declined to comment to MTN after the vote, as did Senate President Matt Regier. Flowers was also unavailable to speak further.