HELENA — A Montana judge has sanctioned a secretive conservative group for failing to provide information about itself as part of a lawsuit it filed against the state.
District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock dismissed portions of Western Tradition Partnership’s lawsuit as a penalty Tuesday and ordered the group to produce complete answers within 10 days.
Sherlock says one of the issues is whether WTP used its status as a nonprofit education organization to hide activity as a political committee in violation of Montana laws.
WTP did not respond to Sherlock’s orders to produce information about itself until Nov. 1, and then it did not answer all the questions.
WTP is now called American Tradition Partnership. Executive Director Donny Ferguson says in a statement that he disagrees with Sherlock’s order but will honor it.