The Montana Senate drew to a stalemate Monday over whether to expel former leader Jason Ellsworth for ethics violations, though there’s no limit to how many tries they get at taking some sort of disciplinary action against the Hamilton Republican.
Lawmakers failed twice to get the necessary two-thirds majority required to expel a member. Between attempts to expel, senators were also unsuccessful at censuring Ellsworth. The latter entailed removing the 2023 Senate president from key committees and banning him from the Senate floor for a few weeks.
The stalemate means a scandal that’s dominated Senate politics since the middle of January will continue unresolved. There’s no limit to how many times the Senate can take up disciplinary action related to an ethics investigation, said Todd Everts, the Legislature’s director of legal services. That means there’s no limit to how many times the Senate can vote to expel or censure Ellsworth for not disclosing his past relationship with a contractor, with one caveat — each motion to censure Ellsworth must be different than previous versions.
During a three-day hearing earlier in March, the Senate Ethics Committee found credible evidence that Ellsworth contracted $170,100 in government work to a long-time business associate without ever disclosing their 20-year relationship. Such conflicts of interest are required to be revealed.
“These are the facts established by the record. The senator used his position as Senate president to attempt to steer tens of thousands of dollars, over $170,000, to his friend, up front, without work having been performed and without disclosing that he had a relationship with the contractor,” said Sen. Forrest Mandeville, ethics committee chair.
Mandeville, R-Columbus, called for Ellsworth to be expelled in the course of Senate process, while Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, who also serves on the ethics committee, called for Ellsworth to be expelled immediately. Both attempts drew 27 votes in support, short of the 34 needed for expulsion in the 50-member state Senate. The pro-expulsion group included four of the chamber’s 18 minority Democrats.
Lawmakers among the 23 to vote against expulsion called it a move so rare it hadn’t occurred in the Senate for more than a century. There were nine Republicans voting to censure Ellsworth.
“I do not believe, Mr. President, the matter before us merits the expulsion of a member,” said Sen. Chris Pope, D-Bozeman. “Note that the ethics committee, which I was part of, was instructed by this body to solely investigate the relatively narrow ethical issue of conflict of interest, which we have done, and which is now before us.”
The work Ellsworth contracted with friend Bryce Eggleston for was also not put out to bid, as is normally required for contracts of more than $100,000. In a separate investigation, the state Department of Justice is looking into whether Ellsworth deliberately split the work into two agreements to miss the $100,000 threshold. Such a workaround to the law would be an abuse of power. The Senate could visit those charges separately in another round of potential disciplinary actions.
Ellsworth, who had been absent from the Senate since late February, was on the floor Monday to vote on his fate with fellow lawmakers.
Early in the proceedings, the senator apologized, saying he was embarrassed for bringing shame to the Senate. He then sat at his desk quietly as the debate played out around him. Some of his fellow Republicans refused to call him senator as they discussed his removal.
“Let me be clear, I did not violate any Senate rules, state laws, or state regulations or procedures. I did not attempt to use my position for personal or private gain. And I received no personal or private gain,” Ellsworth said. “I do regret that I brought the appearance of impropriety into this body. And it may have undermined the public trust in it.
“I’m genuinely sorry and I accept whatever discipline this body deems appropriate,” he said.
It was the first time Ellsworth addressed the allegations against him since his ethics committee hearing, at which he didn’t testify but was represented by his attorney. He voted against being expelled and for being censured.
“I don’t believe what I just heard from the person in seat 31,” said Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, referring to Ellsworth’s chair in the chamber. “He is one of the best salesmen I have ever met in my life. He can sell you anything. And that’s exactly what he tried to get up to do.”
Hertz then expanded the debate beyond the ethics allegation, touching on Ellsworth’s $600,000 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over magazine sales more than a decade ago, in which Ellsworth was accused of signing people for magazines they didn’t agree to purchase. Hertz then recounted times the Hamilton lawmaker attempted to get out of traffic stops by claiming to be en route to legislative business. There was also an allegation of domestic abuse in Ellsworth’s not-too-distant past.
The Montana Republican Party on Sunday called for Ellsworth to resign. Hertz recalled that the Democratic Party had done the same over a different incident in the past.
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