Campaign Complaint Against Gianforte ‘Frivolous’ and ‘Baseless,’ Commissioner of Political Practices Says 

The Montana Commissioner of Political Practices (COPP) on Wednesday dismissed a complaint that charged Gov. Greg Gianforte with using taxpayer funds to send out postcards promoting his reelection campaign. In a 12-page dismissal order, Commissioner Chris Gallus said the postcards sent out by Gianforte and the Department of Revenue were “permitted as an official duty” and did not constitute the use of government resources to promote the governor’s reelection campaign. 

The COPP complaint was filed last week by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ryan Busse’s campaign, and alleged that postcards sent to Montana taxpayers reminding them to apply for a property tax rebate program were “taxpayer-funded political communications to support the Governor’s campaign” and served “no public or governmental purpose.”

The postcards encouraged Montanans to “save the date” to apply for a property tax rebate and read, “Governor Greg Gianforte signed into law a property tax rebate that provides eligible Montana homeowners with up to $675 this year.” The mailers were officially sent from the Montana Department of Revenue and included the logo for Gianforte’s office. Applications for the tax rebate open on Aug. 15.

The Busse campaign charged Gianforte with violating sections of Montana code that govern conduct for public officials and that require a disclosure of costs to taxpayers on all public documents.

Citing similar past complaints, Gallus wrote that in sending the postcards, Gianforte acted in his official capacity as governor. He noted that the Department of Revenue last summer sent postcards that were, “for all intents and purposes,” the same as the ones cited in the Busse campaign’s complaint. He also noted that Gianforte did not use explicit language urging constituents to “vote” for or “support” him, and said that “the most reasonable interpretation” of the postcard is to “take it at face-value as a reminder of and source of information” about a rebate program. 

Kaitlin Price, spokesperson for the governor’s office, said, “The desperate, hyper-partisan complaint was so ‘frivolous’ and ‘unsupported,’ as the commissioner described it, that he dismissed it out of hand. It was nothing more than a waste of taxpayer resources.”

The complaint filed by the Busse campaign also urged COPP to investigate whether the postcards were printed by the graphics company of Jake Eaton, a Republican political strategist and Gianforte’s campaign manager. If printed by Eaton, the Busse campaign argued, Gianforte would be using public funds to compensate his private campaign manager, a violation of Montana code. 

At no point did the Busse campaign provide evidence that Eaton’s company received the contract to print the postcards.

Eaton and his company did not print the postcards, according to the COPP dismissal order. Rather, they were printed by Alphagraphics, a Helena-based company unrelated to Eaton. 

Gallus said the questions raised regarding Eaton’s printing company could “only be described as a targeted attack.” The commissioner dismissed the claims as frivolous, saying they were not only “targeted,” but “baseless.” 

Gallus criticized the Busse campaign for its claims of possible misconduct involving Eaton, writing that while the campaign was able to ascertain numerous facts about Eaton and his business, it “did not verify the single most salient fact related to its complaint,” which the campaign “could easily ascertain on its own.” The commissioner doubled down on his criticism of the complaint, writing that the burden is on the complainant to “make assertions and present cognizable claims, not on COPP to investigate unsubstantiated claims.” 

Aaron Murphy, Busse’s campaign manager, said the campaign disagrees with Gallus’ ruling and that the unsubstantiated claims that Eaton may have printed the postcards were “a very fair question” given Eaton’s history as a printer for conservative political candidates. On whether or not Eaton printed the postcards, Murphy said the campaign “had to file a complaint in order to find that out,” and said that the complaint was in the public’s interest. 

According to Murphy, the campaign did not file a public records request or inquire otherwise about who printed the postcards before filing the COPP complaint. Murphy said a public records request would have taken too long. 

Busse has built his campaign around attacks on Gianforte, painting the governor as a wealthy out-of-state transplant who is not in touch with Montana voters, and who is responsible for significant property tax hikes. 

Gianforte handily won the governorship in 2020 in a campaign against Democratic Lieutenant Governor Mike Cooney. His reelection campaign has touted tax rebates, government deregulation and record job growth achieved during his first term in Helena. 

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