{"id":20604,"date":"2017-12-14T16:09:38","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T23:09:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=20604"},"modified":"2017-12-14T16:38:03","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T23:38:03","slug":"dark-money-prosecutor-accused-of-breaking-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2017\/12\/dark-money-prosecutor-accused-of-breaking-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Dark money’ prosecutor accused of breaking laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jarussi\"<\/a>

Kimberley Reed<\/p>

Gene Jarussi, center, is the subject of a new political practices complaint filed by Jake Eaton. The photo was taken while Jarussi was serving as a special attorney general for then-Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl, right, who sued Bozeman Republican Rep. Art Wittich, far left, for campaign practice violations. Also pictured is Wittich\u2019s attorney, Lucinda Luetkemeyer.<\/p><\/div>\n

Gene Jarussi, a Billings lawyer and the state special attorney general in charge of litigating\u00a0a series of lawsuits<\/a>\u00a0against political candidates for illegal campaign activities, is now himself facing allegations of political misconduct.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0Nov. 27 complaint<\/a>\u00a0filed with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices, Jake Eaton, a Republican political operative from Billings, claims Jarussi and his wife illegally coordinated with\u00a0Rep. Jessica Karjala<\/a>, D-Billings, during her 2016 re-election campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about a guy who spent two years crusading against Republicans using his position of public trust, who all the while was actively engaging in partisan politics and committing the very same violations he was accusing others of, and prosecuting them for,\u201d Eaton said in an interview\u00a0Thursday.<\/p>\n

Jarussi and his wife, Karen Jarussi, deny the allegations and told The Montana Free Press<\/a> that the complaint against them is politically motivated attempt at retribution.<\/p>\n

\"Jake\"<\/a>

Jake Eaton<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI believe that there is an element of retaliation in Jake Eaton\u2019s complaint against Gene, Jessica Karjala, and me,\u201d Karen Jarussi said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Eaton is a witness in an ongoing Commissioner of Political Practices\u00a0lawsuit against the Montana Growth Network<\/a>, a so-called \u201cdark money\u201d group accused of, among other things, failing to report and disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars it spent in Montana\u2019s 2010 elections.<\/p>\n

Eaton\u2019s former consulting firm, 47 North Communications, provided services to Montana Growth Network and Eaton is named as a witness in the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

In July,\u00a0a judge sanctioned Eaton\u2019s wife<\/a>, Billings attorney Emily Jones, and\u00a0ordered her to pay $14,970 in legal fees<\/a>\u00a0to Jarussi, who is representing the state in the case. District Judge Kathy Seeley determined that Jones inappropriately warned other witnesses to withhold evidence. The judge also forwarded her order to Office of Disciplinary Counsel.<\/p>\n

Jones is also the attorney who in September 2016\u00a0sent Karjala a \u201ccease and desist\u201d letter<\/a>\u00a0on behalf of Karjala\u2019s Republican challenger, Robert Saunders, in the heated 2016 House District 48 race. In the letter, Jones threatened to sue Karjala for defamation if she did not apologize for allegedly making false statements about Saunders.<\/p>\n

Saunders lost his bid to unseat Karjala by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that this is all very personal for Jake and his wife, and that he is trying to discredit Jessica, Gene and me in an attempt to defend his wife\u2019s honor by creating problems for those he believes have offended her,\u201d Karen Jarussi said.<\/p>\n

For his part, Eaton says the allegations are credible, and serious.<\/p>\n

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>\u201cGene Jarussi, Karen Jarussi, Neighbors for Responsible Legislators, and the 2016 Legislative Candidate Jessica Karjala engaged in multiple violations of Montana\u2019s campaign finance laws,\u201d Eaton wrote in his complaint. \u201cTheir efforts display a clear pattern of disregard for the laws of the state of Montana by engaging in illegal coordination between a political committee and candidate for public office and failing to properly report electioneering activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eaton said Jarussi should be removed from ongoing Commissioner of Political Practices litigation and he also called on Commissioner Jeff Mangan to recuse himself from the complaint and to appoint a Republican lawyer to handle the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince it has become the practice of the Commissioner\u2019s office to appoint Democrat lawyers to pursue cases against Republican officeholders and organizations, I would hope that the Commissioner would continue to apply the same practice and appoint a Republican lawyer to pursue this case,\u201d Eaton wrote.<\/p>\n

Mangan acknowledged that the office had officially accepted the complaint and is in the process of reviewing it, but he declined to comment on the specifics of Eaton\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n

\"Jessica\"<\/a>

David Crisp\/Last Best News<\/p>

Reb. Jessica Karjala, D-Billings, was photographed at the Greater Yellowstone Central Labor Council Labor Day Picnic in 2016.<\/p><\/div>\n

Eaton claims the Jarussis facilitated \u201celectioneering communication\u201d that benefited Karjala\u2019s campaign while Karen Jarussi was \u201cacting as a paid agent\u201d of Karjala\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Karen Jarussi and Karjala deny that Karen was ever a \u201cpaid agent\u201d of the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Karjala said of the complaint. \u201c(The Jarussis) are my voters, and they held a fundraiser for me. I reimbursed Karen for the food they provided. That\u2019s a very common fundraising practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Karjala campaign reported paying Karen Jarussi $120 for the\u00a0Sept. 15\u00a0fundraiser.<\/p>\n

Karen Jarussi said the day after that fundraiser she registered a political action committee called Neighbors for Responsible Legislators for the purpose of opposing Saunders and supporting Karjala. Jarussi said the only purpose of the PAC was to create a door hanger opposing Saunders.<\/p>\n

Jarussi said she never discussed the PAC or its activities with Karjala.<\/p>\n

\u201cJessica had no idea I was doing this, because I never discussed it with her,\u201d Jarussi said.<\/p>\n

Karjala said she saw the hangers when she was knocking on doors on the campaign trail, but she didn\u2019t know anything about Neighbors for Responsible Legislators.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the door literature because I knocked on a lot of doors, but it was a complete surprise to me,\u201d Karjala said.<\/p>\n

Eaton also claims Karjala \u201cengaged Billings attorney Gene Jarussi to conduct opposition research\u201d on Saunders, a claim that Karjala and Jarussi deny.<\/p>\n

\"Door\"<\/a>

A door hanger produced by Neighbors for Responsible Legislators.<\/p><\/div>\n

This allegation stems from the fact that Gene Jarussi conducted a\u00a0videotaped interview<\/a>\u00a0of a woman in San Antonio, Texas, who\u00a0claimed<\/a>\u00a0Saunders made racist comments to her when they were both students at\u00a0Patrick Henry College<\/a>, a conservative Christian college in Purcellville, Va.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026(H)e made the statement that \u2018about 100 years ago, I would have owned you,\u2019\u201d Eskew, who is black, told Jarussi.<\/p>\n

Saunders denied making any racist comments.<\/p>\n

Eaton alleges that the Jarussis should have reported at least a portion of their travel expenditures to San Antonio as campaign contributions to the Karjala campaign.<\/p>\n

Jarussi said he met with Erin Eskew while he and his wife were in San Antonio visiting an ailing family member. Karen Jarussi\u2019s brother, who was suffering from Parkinson\u2019s disease and frontal lobe dementia, was at an assisted-living facility in San Antonio. The Jarussis said they were in San Antonio visiting family when Karjala forwarded Karen a Facebook message she received from a former classmate of Saunders who claimed Saunders had made racist remarks in the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cJessica forwarded it to me, not Gene,\u201d Karen said. \u201cShe shared it with me, as a friend and a constituent who had expressed concerns and questions about Saunders\u2019 character. She did not ask me or Gene for any help, or to do anything with the email.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karen Jarussi said she and Gene decided on their own to contact the former classmate, Stewart Lundy. Lundy told the Jarussis that they should talk to Eskew. Karen said she looked Eskew up on Facebook and sent her a message. Eskew\u2019s Facebook profile indicated she lived in Germany.<\/p>\n

Karen said a few days later, Eskew contacted her and provided a telephone number with a San Antonio area code.<\/p>\n

\u201cGene called her, and it turned out that she and her husband had just returned to San Antonio from Germany the previous\u00a0Friday,\u201d Karen stated. \u201cAmazingly, she was staying within a couple of miles of my brother\u2019s assisted living facility in San Antonio.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jarussis said they met with Eskew and videotaped their conversation with her, and then provided the material to the Billings Gazette, which ran a newspaper article.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt all times, Gene and I acted on our own behalf, to satisfy our own curiosity about Saunders\u2019 background and character,\u201d Karen Jarussi said.<\/p>\n

Eaton claims the Jarussis provided a valuable service to the Karjala campaign that was not disclosed by the Karjala campaign or Neighbors for Responsible Legislators.<\/p>\n

Karjala said she never spoke to the Jarussis about \u201copposition research\u201d and she said she didn\u2019t know that the Jarussis had contacted Saunders\u2019 former classmates until after the news stories came out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was shocking to me,\u201d Karjala said. \u201cI had no idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gene Jarussi said his service as the special attorney general acting on behalf of the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices does not preclude him from taking initiative as a citizen to investigate a candidate seeking to represent him in the Legislature.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there a law against it? Am I not entitled to vote? Am I not entitled to speak?\u201d Jarussi said. \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t I be able to be a citizen, also?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jarussi said Eaton\u2019s claim that he has been \u201ccrusading against Republicans\u201d lacks credibility when you look at the record.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we had Republicans complaining about other Republicans breaking the law,\u201d Jarussi said. \u201cThey violated the law, and each of every one of them admits to violating the law, or a jury has agreed that they violated the law. I didn\u2019t crusade against anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jarussi said he doesn\u2019t believe Eaton\u2019s complaint will have any impact on the ongoing litigation involving the Montana Growth Network. Jarussi said he will officially reply to Eaton\u2019s allegations in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

The respondents in the case have until\u00a0Jan. 5, 2018,\u00a0to respond to the allegations. Mangan said at that time the commissioner\u2019s office will review the material and determine whether an investigation is warranted.<\/p>\n

John Adams is the founding editor of The Montana Free Press<\/a>, where this story was first published.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gene Jarussi, a Billings lawyer and the state special attorney general in charge of litigating\u00a0a series of lawsuits\u00a0against political candidates for illegal campaign activities, is now himself facing allegations of political misconduct.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":20606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[297,6059,4927,6551,3704,6552,4928],"class_list":["post-20604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana","category-news","tag-gene-jarussi","tag-jake-eaton","tag-jessica-karjala","tag-karen-jarussi","tag-montana-commissioner-of-political-practices","tag-montana-growth-network","tag-robert-saunders","prominence-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20604"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20617,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20604\/revisions\/20617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}