HELENA — An ethics complaint against Gov. Steve Bullock was rejected Monday for failing to offer evidence of violations and being a clear attempt to embarrass the governor as he sought re-election, the state commissioner of political practices said.
The complaint alleged that Bullock and Commerce Director Meg O’Leary misused the state-owned plane by flying to a Paul McCartney concert in Missoula in August 2014 and violated ethics laws by accepting concert tickets from University of Montana President Royce Engstrom.
Republican Rep. Brad Tschida of Missoula filed the complaint in September, past the two-year statute of limitations, indicating an effort to embarrass the governor, Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl found.
In addition, “an ethics complainant has the initial responsibility to file a complaint that states factual allegations that could state a potential violation of the code of ethics,” Motl wrote in rejecting it.
Bullock and O’Leary said in their response to the complaint that they had traveled to Missoula for other state business, including economic development issues, and that the governor spent time at the concert with Engstrom as well as other Montana residents. The complaint did not say how the concert tickets might improperly influence Bullock or O’Leary in the discharge of their public duties, the response said.
“The complaint was ridiculous, and it’s this kind of campaign smear tactic that prevents good people from running for office,” Ronja Abel, a spokeswoman for the governor’s office, said Monday.
Matthew Monforton, attorney for Tschida, called the decision “the kind of whitewash to be expected from Gov. Bullock’s hand-picked commissioner.”
Motl had rejected a request to recuse himself from the case. His decision also said Tschida violated requirements that the complaint be kept confidential until the commissioner decided whether to accept it.
That caveat is included in the Administrative Rules of Montana and was mentioned in two letters Motl wrote to Tschida and Monforton after the complaint was filed.
Tschida notified some state lawmakers about the complaint a week before the general election. News outlets reported on the complaint. Bullock, a Democrat, won re-election over Republican challenger Greg Gianforte.
Tschida sued Motl for saying he violated the confidentiality requirements and is asking a federal judge to block Motl from carrying out his threat to prosecute him. He also is asking the judge to declare the confidentiality requirement unconstitutional.
Motl said Monday he would wait until U.S. District Judge Brian Morris rules before pursuing any action with regard to Tschida making the complaint public.
Monforton said Tschida, who was hunting Monday and unavailable for comment, would consider whether to appeal Motl’s rejection to District Court in Helena.