News

Actions

Montana Senate resumes ethics investigation of former Senate president Ellsworth

Jason Ellsworth
Forrest Mandeville
Posted

HELENA — The Montana Senate is set to resume its ethics investigation into former Senate President Sen. Jason Ellsworth – a day after Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced he would begin looking into criminal allegations against Ellsworth.

Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, chair of the Senate Ethics Committee, announced on the Senate floor Thursday afternoon that the committee would restart its hearings next week.

“The Attorney General's response satisfies the vote of the Senate to temporarily suspend the Ethics Committee until the Attorney General has weighed in,” he said. “That's been verified with the legislature's nonpartisan Legislative Service Division attorneys. The suspension is over, and so the Senate Ethics Committee will now resume its work.”

Forrest Mandeville
Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, announced on the Senate floor Feb. 20, 2025, that the Senate Ethics Committee would resume its hearings into former Senate president Sen. Jason Ellsworth.

Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, has been accused of “abuse and waste” in his handling of a state contract. Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, asked the Legislative Audit Division to look into Ellsworth's reported approval of a $170,000 contract with a former business associate.

The Ethics Committee was set to begin hearings on Ellsworth’s actions this month, but Democrats and a group of nine Republicans voted to delay those proceedings while referring the allegations to the Department of Justice. They argued the process had become too politicized, and that it wasn’t appropriate for the Ethics Committee to weigh in on accusations of criminal conduct.

The Senate and the Audit Division both submitted their investigations to DOJ last week. On Wednesday, Knudsen’s office said they would open a criminal investigation but that only the Senate had the authority to enforce ethical codes against legislators.

Ellsworth told MTN Wednesday he didn’t believe the Ethics Committee should be able to resume hearings until DOJ completed its investigation. After Mandeville’s announcement, Ellsworth spoke on the floor, again stating he believed the allegations against him were politically motivated, that he hadn’t had the opportunity for due process in the Audit Division’s initial investigation and that the Ethics Committee doesn’t have the authority to look into something that happened outside a legislative session.

“If you don't think this is political, you are fooling yourself,” he said. “And if you don't think this is going to be weaponized in the future – if we don't follow our own rules that the Constitution says we must follow – it's a sad day for all of us.”

Jason Ellsworth
Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, speaks on the Senate floor, Feb. 20, 2025.

Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, responded, saying the Montana Constitution gives the Senate the responsibility of disciplining its members.

“The Ethics Committee is a fact-finding committee,” he said. “They will not make a determination; they will provide facts to the floor. And then once we have those facts, then the floor will make a judgment – and in the Constitution, that takes two-thirds of us to make that judgment. That's where we're at, and that's where we should be.”

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, made the motion to suspend the Ethics Committee’s activities. He told MTN Thursday he believed the committee was justified in resuming its hearings, but that he wanted them to remain strictly focused on ethical allegations and leave aside any potential criminal allegations.

Mandeville said the Ethics Committee would meet Monday and Friday of next week.