HELENA — Montana’s top political cop says Attorney General Austin Knudsen didn’t violate any laws, after he was reported to have recruited a candidate to run against him for campaign finance purposes.
This week, Commissioner of Political Practices Chris Gallus rejected complaints that Montana Democratic Party Executive Director Sheila Hogan filed against Knudsen and Logan Olson, the other candidate in this year’s Republican primary for attorney general. Reports said Knudsen had been recorded at a campaign event, saying he had asked Olson to run in the primary so he could raise more money.
Montana law allows candidates to raise more from a single donor if they have a primary opponent than if they run unopposed in the primary.
In his decision, Gallus wrote that he didn’t have evidence to show Olson wasn’t a “bona fide” candidate or that he was offered any “payment or promise” for running – and even if he did, he believed the authority to make that decision belonged to a court, not to the COPP’s office.
“Mr. Olson made public statements of support for his opponent, and maintained he only entered the race because Montana's laws were ridiculous,” Gallus wrote. “He made no efforts to run a campaign. He received no contributions and made no expenditures other than his filing fee. The Attorney General made similar statements as to what precipitated Mr. Olson entering the race. But I cannot decide that, and even under MCA§ 13-10-201(4), I would need to await a judicial determination that his oath is not valid.”
Gallus said there was reason to believe many Montana campaigns have engaged in similar activities, and that the state had not previously taken action against them. He said it would be unreasonable to make a major change in how his office enforces these cases.
“I cannot abruptly change course merely because the respondents currently before me were more open than others regarding their activity,” he said. “If the Legislature finds these tactics offensive, it can stop the activity through legislative action. I cannot.”
Hogan’s complaints had also argued Olson wasn’t a legitimate candidate because he didn’t meet the qualifications to be attorney general. Last month, Gallus ruled Olson had not actively practiced law long enough to qualify for the position, but that there wasn’t evidence to show he knew he wasn’t qualified when he filed to run.
Gallus said he understood and was “to a certain degree sympathetic” to the concerns Hogan had raised, but that he had no choice but to conclude that, under the law, Olson was a candidate, so the primary was contested. He called this situation “the worst kept secret in all of Montana’s campaign finance laws.”
“I am not inclined to determine that the present situation is different merely because the respondent candidates were more open about it,” he said. “In essence, that would allow the activity to continue, but only so long as it continued quietly or in secrecy. Nothing is more repugnant to the purpose of campaign finance laws than that.”
Jake Eaton, a senior advisor to Knudsen’s campaign, released a statement in response to Gallus’ decision.
“We appreciate the Commissioner bringing this matter to its rightful close,” he said. “Such political stunts have no place in Montana politics. Ms. Hogan and the Democrat Party owe an apology to all Montana taxpayers for wasting the Commissioner’s time with this frivolous complaint.”
Hogan expressed disappointment with the decision in a statement shared with MTN.
"The Montana Democratic Party disagrees with the Commissioner of Political Practices’ findings,” she said. “Attorney General Austin Knudsen and Logan Olsen clearly schemed to violate Montana’s election laws, which is consistent with the corrupt and unethical behavior Knudsen continues to demonstrate as Attorney General. We will continue to make the case to Montana voters that they must hold Austin Knudsen accountable at the ballot box."
