Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/tag/jonathan-motl/page/2/)
HELENA — Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl took the witness stand Wednesday in the jury trial of a Republican lawmaker Motl has accused of illegally benefiting from “dark money” contributions during a 2010 GOP primary campaign. (more…) Continue Reading →
HELENA — Jurors heard from two former National Right to Work Committee staffers Tuesday as testimony resumed on day two of state Rep. Art Wittich’s campaign practice lawsuit. Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl is suing the Bozeman Republican, alleging Wittich illegally benefited from coordinated corporate campaign contributions during his 2010 GOP primary race for the Montana Senate. (more…) Continue Reading →
HELENA — A highly anticipated civil trial to determine whether Bozeman Republican Rep. Art Wittich violated campaign practice laws during his 2010 primary campaign got underway in Helena on Monday. Wittich, the former Republican Senate majority leader and conservative stalwart in the state House, has been accused by, Jonathan Motl, Montana’s top campaign ethics chief, of violating state campaign finance laws. (more…) Continue Reading →
After more than two years of allegations, counter-claims, investigations, and back-and-forth legal maneuverings, the high-profile campaign practices lawsuit pitting a Democratic appointee against a Republican state lawmaker will finally go before a jury on Monday. (more…) Continue Reading →
This story has been updated. The Montana Supreme Court in a 4-2 ruling rejected Republican Rep. Art Wittich’s appeal seeking a dismissal of a high-profile political corruption lawsuit. (more…) Continue Reading →
Rarely does a civil lawsuit garner as much statewide attention as the ongoing legal battle between Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl and Republican State Rep. Art Wittich. The widespread interest in the high-profile showdown was highlighted this week by the many headlines that stemmed from pretrial legal wrangling in advance of a week-long jury trial scheduled for March 28 in Helena. (more…) Continue Reading →
District Judge Ray Dayton on Monday heard more than three hours of testimony in his Anaconda courtroom as he considers competing pre-trial arguments in a high-profile political corruption lawsuit. (more…) Continue Reading →
HELENA – Thousands of newly uncovered documents and recently filed court records bolster the already mounting evidence tying the anti-union National Right to Work Committee to the political activities of conservative nonprofit groups accused of improperly coordinating Republican legislative primary campaigns in Montana. (more…) Continue Reading →
In a routine Sunday column about things the Montana Legislature did right in the recent session, Billings Gazette Editor Darrell Ehrlick wrote this sentence: “Free speech is not the right to say anything to anyone without having to sign your name to it.”
Actually, the right to say anything to anyone without having to sign your name to it is pretty much the definition of free speech. That’s why questions about campaign spending have become so tortured in Montana and in the nation as a whole. (more…) Continue Reading →
