Senators Say Ellsworth Promised to Bring ‘Chaos’ If Denied Presidency
Ellsworth denied allegations he had promised to disrupt Senate
By Keila Szpaller and Micah Drew for the Daily Montanan
Senator Jason Ellsworth threatened members of his own party with disruption of the Montana Senate in his failed bid to retain the office of Senate president, according to multiple Republican senators.
Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, also threatened the new Senate President and majority leader with retaliation in connection with a waste, fraud and abuse investigation into a contract he signed with a business associate, according to public records obtained by the Daily Montanan.
Ellsworth denied the claims he had threatened to upset activities in the Senate and repeatedly described the allegations as “ridiculous.” He also said he did not recall the details of his conversations with leadership about the investigation.
The alleged threat to leadership is identified in public documents related to the Senate Ethics Committee, and threat of tumult in the Senate came out of interviews following strife on the Senate floor last week when minority Democrats and nine Republicans voted to shift gears on an investigation into Ellsworth’s alleged ethical and criminal misconduct.
The decision suspended the ethics committee and referred the matter to the Department of Justice, which some Republicans argued undercut their authority and obligation to ensure integrity within their own body.
Ellsworth came under scrutiny for potential ethical and criminal misconduct for a $170,000 contract he signed with a business associate late last year.
On the floor last week, Republicans offered fiery rebukes to their peers who had joined Democrats to stop the internal probe, at least temporarily, and refer it to the DOJ.
They subsequently said Ellsworth, who served as Senate president in 2023, pledged he would infuse turmoil into the 2025 session should he not retain the presidency and would try to present the new Senate president in a poor light.
Other senators said Ellsworth didn’t lodge threats, but he tried to find ways to motivate them to support him for president.
Ellsworth said he voiced his desires about leadership positions, but he denied that he planned to foment disorder if he was denied those roles. He said the accusations were “ridiculous.”
“That would be shallow, and I’m here to serve the people,” Ellsworth said.
The accusations are taking place in the midst of a divided Senate.
Ellsworth and the group of eight other Republicans have worked together with Democrats this session in a way that has frustrated Republican leadership and led to accusations the minority GOP are letting Democrats run the show.
Meanwhile, significant proposals are on the table, such as property tax cut bills from both parties, and the continuation of Medicaid expansion, a priority program for Democrats and some more moderate Republicans.
Before the session started, Senator Greg Hertz, R-Polson, said Ellsworth made “threats about turning the Senate upside down and making the current Senate president look like he’s incompetent” if he wasn’t elected president.
Hertz also ran for president, as did Senator Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, who won.
After the election, Senator Mark Noland, R-Bigfork, said Ellsworth also threatened him and others — he declined to identify anyone for a story — about getting other leadership assignments.
“‘If you don’t do what we want, then we’re going to upset everything,’” Noland said Ellsworth told him; he said at the time, it wasn’t clear to whom Ellsworth was referring.
Noland said Ellsworth was worried he wouldn’t be treated fairly when it came to committee assignments, but Noland believed the concern was unfounded.
Other senators said Ellsworth tried other approaches to try to retain the presidency but that he also has admitted to retaliation in at least one earlier instance.
Senator Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, said the day before and morning of the vote for president, Ellsworth suggested that if he was president, he would be able to work with the Department of Labor and Industry and the Governor’s Office to deliver tax relief for miners.
In fall 2024, the Sibanye Stillwater mine announced it would be laying off 680 workers in Columbus. Mandeville said he did not believe the Governor’s Office was actually involved in the deal Ellsworth presented.
Senator Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, said it’s natural for politicians to see how high they can rise, and Ellsworth tried to find something Trebas wanted in exchange for his support, but Trebas said he believed it was time for a change.
“It did become kind of odd how hard he tried to work some of us,” Trebas said.
Ellsworth did not stop making threats when the 69th Legislature gaveled in at the start of the year, according to public documents.
According to public records obtained by the Daily Montanan, after his contract came to light and the matter was referred to the Waste, Fraud and Abuse Hotline, Ellsworth tried to get GOP leadership to back down.
An itemized invoice from attorney Matthew Monforton, initially hired to represent Senate President Regier and GOP leadership and aid in the ethics committee investigation, showed Monforton conducted “legal research” into a “threat made by Ellsworth to Regier & (Majority Leader Tom) McGillvray.”
Under a law cited in the invoice — a whistleblower statute — the research pertained to unlawful retaliation against someone who tips off the Waste, Fraud and Abuse hotline, which is a civil infraction under Montana law.
The statute states that it is unlawful for a state agency, state officer, public officer, or public employee to “retaliate against, or to condone or threaten retaliation against, an individual who, in good faith, alleges waste, fraud, or abuse.”
Monforton, who was relieved of his role as counsel after just a few days due to concerns from Democrats, would not comment on the invoice, citing attorney-client privilege.
Asked about the specifics of the threat and whether it could lead to a new ethics complaint against Ellsworth, Regier said he would not comment on the matter at this time.
McGillvray also declined to comment.
Ellsworth said he could not recall any specifics from his conversations with leadership around that time, but said he had pushed back against the speed at which the Legislative Audit Division published its report, without answers from him, his legal counsel, or the contractor he signed the agreement with.
However, one other senator said Ellsworth admitted to retaliation in the past.
Senator Barry Usher, R-Billings, said Ellsworth didn’t appoint him to the 2023-24 Criminal Justice Oversight Council, of which Usher had served as chairperson, as retribution for his vote in 2023 to have the session come to a close.
“He told me it was a punishment for my sine die vote last session,” Usher said.
Usher, too, said Ellsworth pledged to disrupt work in the Senate if he didn’t get to be president again.
“He threatened … all of us that if he didn’t get president, it was going to be total chaos,” Usher said.
Ellsworth said he chose to appoint a legislator to the council who had more experience in the Senate than Usher, and he didn’t act out of a desire to retaliate.
He acknowledged he did not have to choose the most senior senator and that Usher had experience as former chairperson, but he said he selected a person, Senator Chris Friedel, R-Billings, who had more years in the Senate.
“He had seniority, and you go with the seniority,” Ellsworth said.
Somehow referring something to DOJ doesn’t feel like the threat it used to.