Complaint backlog cleared; prosecutions remain

It took 18 years for Montana campaign regulators to clear the backlog of complaints alleging violations by candidates and organizations, but it turns out that was just the first step.

Now, the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices’ office must enforce the dozens of complaints in which wrongdoing was found. It could take years more to get through them all.

“It’s going to take a little while to move that mass of complaints,” Commissioner Jonathan Motl said. “But the public can be assured that we are not going to forfeit enforcement.”

In January, Motl and his staff announced that they had cleared the complaint docket for the first time since 1998. Anybody can file a complaint alleging a campaign violation, which can range from the wrong signature on a campaign report to taking bribes in the form of unreported campaign contributions. The commissioner’s office is left to investigate whether complaints have merit.

Since Motl became commissioner in 2013, the office issued 144 decisions either dismissing unfounded complaints or finding violations of state law. However, Motl himself cannot impose penalties. For complaints in which wrongdoing was found, Motl must either reach a settlement agreement with the accused or seek a judge’s ruling to uphold his findings and set penalties.

There are now 25 pending cases dating back to 2013 that must be resolved by settlement or lawsuit, according to an AP data analysis. Twenty-three additional cases are already in court, and three others have been resolved after going to court, according to the analysis.

The 23 open court cases have been consolidated into nine lawsuits. Nearly all are related to Motl’s findings that conservative nonprofit corporate organizations related to the National Right to Work Committee illegally contributed unreported donations to Republican candidates in 2010 and 2012.

The first trial, against Rep. Art Wittich, R-Bozeman, is scheduled March 28 — unless the state Supreme Court delays it. Wittich is accused of taking corporate contributions, which is illegal in Montana, from Right to Work affiliate Western Tradition Partnership, and failing to report them. Motl is seeking to remove Wittich from office and bar him from running as a candidate.

Wittich, who has denied any wrongdoing, has asked the Supreme Court to intervene and throw out the case.

The court has not made a ruling.

The outcome of the Wittich trial could lead to the rapid settlement of the 21 other pending cases that involve Right to Work, its affiliated organizations and the candidates accused of taking unreported in-kind contributions, Motl said.

“If it does not settle, it will be a case that provides guidance to the cases following it,” he said. “Settlement is always preferable. There are no cases that we would prefer to go to a judge.”

Motl won two related cases in court by default judgment when the candidates failed to respond to his claims. He settled with a third, Rep. Mike Miller, R-Helmville, who agreed not to run for office for four years and pay a $4,000 fine.