Senate resumes ethics investigation into Sen. Ellsworth, former Senate president
The main stairway to the third floor of the Montana Capitol building is seen on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. (Nathaniel Bailey for the Daily Montanan)
Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, announced Thursday the Senate Ethics Committee will resume its investigation into ethical allegations against Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, former Senate president.
The Senate had earlier referred criminal and ethical allegations made by its Ethics Committee to the Department of Justice and temporarily paused its own internal probe.
The DOJ said Wednesday it had launched an investigation into criminal allegations.
However, the Attorney General said the department lacks the jurisdiction to investigate or enforce ethics complaints against a legislator, said Mandeville, chairperson of the Ethics Committee, citing a letter from the DOJ.
In his letter, Knudsen also said the Montana Constitution 'confers exclusive authority' on the legislature to enforce the code of ethics against legislators.
During announcements Thursday on the Senate floor of upcoming committee, Mandeville said the nonpartisan Legislative Services Division legal staff verified that the action he announced was proper.
'The suspension is over,' Mandeville said of the internal investigation. 'So the Senate Ethics Committee will now resume its work.'
Mandeville also said the DOJ's open investigation is the result of a separate referral to the agency, one from the Legislative Auditor.
The Legislative Auditor had found Ellsworth abused his power and wasted state resources when he signed a $170,000 state contract, since nulled, with a colleague as former senate president in December, before the 2025 session.
Ellsworth's lawyer has called on the Legislative Auditor to retract the findings.
Thursday, Ellsworth said Senate rules state the Ethics Committee's investigations must be related to actions 'during a legislative session,' and he argued the review would be improper.
'Obviously, this is political,' Ellsworth said.
After the meeting, Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, who made the earlier motion to refer both the criminal and ethical allegations outside the body, arguing Ellsworth would not receive due process within the Senate, said Thursday he supported the internal ethics investigation given the decision from the DOJ.
The Ethics Committee will meet 10:30 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24, and 8 a.m. Friday, Feb. 28, Mandeville said.
Mandeville said he anticipated the committee's work would take more than one week and less than one month.
The Montana Legislature should complete its work by the first week of May.
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