Republican senators say leaders must face ethics investigation

As senators, we are charged with the responsibility to serve the people of Montana by working together to shape laws that are in the best interest of our state. As Republican senators, we believe we have been tasked with pursuing fiscal responsibility and limited, effective government.

Sadly, this session has been marked by controversy as we’ve learned one of our own party leaders may have broken the trust of Montana voters.

When the Senate voted to send former President Ellsworth's case to the Ethics Committee, we did so based on allegations that a sole source contract might not have been executed legally. In subsequent hearings on this issue, however, we learned that no money was paid on this contract and that the suggestion to split the contract was actually provided by the contractor – not Senator Ellsworth.

Legislative leadership is provided access to an attorney shared between the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate. Current Senator Matt Regier, who served as Speaker of the House in 2023, apparently wasn’t satisfied with this arrangement, so he engaged a separate private attorney to do the routine work formerly handled by attorneys already on the state payroll.

Mr. Regier paid for this private attorney with public funds without a contract. Instead of owning up to this misuse of funds, he tried, unsuccessfully, to change the law in his favor (HB 260 – 2023).

When we learned of these details, we became very concerned that Mr. Regier was operating outside of his lawful authority and that his behavior was very similar to the accusations being made against Mr. Ellsworth. His answer to the following question was even more alarming:

Reporter: Did you spend public funds on the Lake County lawsuit?

Mr. Regier: There isn't an invoice.

Mr. Regier’s Lake County lawsuit was a private legal action. The use of public funds would have been highly inappropriate. The answer in this situation should be an emphatic "no" – not the obfuscation of "there isn't an invoice."

As elected officials, the public does not bestow blind trust upon us. Instead, those who do the right things for the right reasons earn the public’s trust and work on their behalf knowing that they answer to the people of Montana. The trail of evidence suggesting Mr. Regier may have violated this trust is at least as compelling as the evidence that led to Mr. Ellsworth’s investigation, and should be examined closely and seriously.

Montanans have put great faith in their Republican elected officials. We owe them the courtesy of performing our duties in a fiscally responsible manner that is bound by the laws of the state of Montana.

This is why we must subject both Mr. Ellsworth and Mr. Regier to an investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee and restore the trust of the Montana people in our legislative body.

– Senators Josh Kassmier, Gayle Lammers, Shelly Vance, Wendy McKamey, Gregg Hunter, Denley Loge, Russ Tempel, and Butch Gillespie