Former GOP Political Strategist Convicted of Stalking Whitefish Man Sentenced to Department of Corrections

The 40-year-old Billings man and former GOP political strategist convicted of stalking a Whitefish man has been sentenced to one year in the Flathead County Detention Center followed by five years to the Department of Corrections.

A Flathead County jury in May found Daniel Edward Duffey guilty of two counts of stalking – a felony and a separate misdemeanor.

In January of 2024, a Whitefish man reported harassment to law enforcement after Duffey had repeatedly contacted him and his family, making unfounded accusations of sexual assault after the two men met at a football game in Missoula. After failing to affirm the defendant’s desire to deepen their relationship, he launched a campaign to tarnish the victim’s reputation by printing out flyers with graphics stating his identity and that he sexually assaults men.

Flathead County District Court Judge Dan Wilson imposed the sentence at a July 24 hearing, while also requiring the defendant to pay restitution, which included the $920 the victim paid for security at his wedding. In addition to probation conditions, he is restricted from contacting the victim and witnesses along with jurors and court personnel. He will receive credit for 81 days served.

During the jury trial, Wilson said Duffey intimidated jurors by exhibiting unusual body language and eye contact.

“For the first day or day-and-a-half, the court watched Mr. Duffey turn sideways in his chair and stare at the jury in a way that the court could reasonably see and did note, and so now finds was disturbing to the jurors … there wasn’t a juror that the court could observe that was willing even to look in Mr. Duffey’s direction,” Judge Wilson said.

Judge Wilson also described Duffey as an unremorseful, manipulative and a dangerous individual who is a threat to public safety.

“Mr. Duffey’s conduct is frightening – it is truly frightening,” Wilson said. “It was truly terrorizing. There’s no way to look at that conduct and say it falls anywhere near even the outside-most boundaries of acceptable human behavior in a civilized society.”

Duffey’s defense attorney William Managhan prior to the sentencing argued his client should receive a one-year suspended sentence in the Flathead County Detention Center for the misdemeanor charge and a six-year deferred sentence in the Montana State Prison for the felony charge. He cited a lack of criminal conduct, mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his military background.

Managhan argued a deferred sentence would have given Duffey more supervision and a “greater potential punishment” if he were to slip up. He defended his client’s lack of remorse as a strategic action for his plans to appeal the case.

“Given the nature of this crime, given my client’s lack of criminal conduct, given the mitigating factors of PTSD and mental health issues, concern about restitution and supervision over a longer period, I think they all weigh against prison,” Managhan said.

Flathead County Attorney Travis Ahner recommended a sentence of one year in the county jail and five years at the Montana State Prison to run concurrently. During the sentencing, Ahner described Duffey as manipulative and disturbed, drawing parallels between his political background and his behavior.

“He’s got a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in finance and he was educated and trained in the military,” Ahner said. “He had a political career where, in my understanding, his job was essentially to dig up dirt on political enemies and he weaponized all of that. What’s fascinating about this case is of course the fact that Mr. Duffey has convinced himself that he was assaulted.”

According to Ahner, Duffey went to great lengths to tarnish the victim’s reputation by driving from southwest Montana to deliver numerous flyers that depicted the Whitefish man’s identity, claiming that he sexually assaults men. He also made false accounts for Grindr – a dating app for the LGBTQ community – using the victim’s identity and attempted instigating strange men to make sexual propositions to the victim.

“He did everything he could to ruin the victim in this case,” Ahner said.

While Duffey did not commit any acts of violence, Ahner said he made implied violent threats, which included sending pictures of himself to the victim while holding a weapon.

Ahner said Duffey’s actions caused tremendous stress for the victims, causing the couple to seek therapy and hire security for their wedding.

In addition to the recent convictions, Duffey has accrued multiple misdemeanor convictions, including a DUI conviction from 2014 in Fairbanks, Alaska, and a separate count of making false statement to obtain benefits from 2021 in Arizona, according to prosecutors. Duffey also was charged with a felony count of criminal mischief in Gallatin County, which was eventually dismissed.

According to charging documents filed in Flathead County on Feb. 5, 2024, the victim on Jan. 21 reported the harassment to the Whitefish Police Department (WPD), telling officers that Duffey repeatedly contacted him and his family, making unfounded accusations.

The behavior stemmed from a casual interaction at a football game in Missoula in November 2023. After learning they had a shared interest in rugby, the men exchanged numbers and socialized again later that night.

About one week after meeting one another, Duffey contacted the victim about a rugby connection. The following week, Duffey once again reached out to the victim to ask if he wanted to get a beer. When the victim didn’t respond, he said he later received a text from Duffey accusing him of being “all over” Duffey and sexually assaulting him, according to documents.

The victim denied the accusation and said Duffey continued texting him and would apologize for the allegations but then would “blow up” when he didn’t respond. Duffey then threatened to report the incident if he didn’t admit it and apologize to him.

Duffey continued texting and threatening the victim and eventually contacted his fiancé and future in-laws, as well as his employer and coworkers, a local rugby team and their business sponsors, according to records. Duffey initiated the contact via text, Facebook messaging, emails and letters. The victim’s mother-in-law received a letter from the defendant that detailed claims of sexual assault and photos of Duffey with well-known politicians, records state.

According to documents, Duffey continued harassing the victim and wrote more accusations on his wedding website.

On Feb. 2, 2024, law enforcement collected 20 flyers that were found on vehicles at a Kalispell bar revealing the victim’s identity, his rugby team affiliation and stating, “I sexually assault men.” Dozens more flyers were found at the victim’s wedding venue in Whitefish and in their neighborhood.

The defendant continued sending threatening messages to the victim’s then-fiancé with a different phone number on Feb. 3, and a WPD officer arrested Duffey later that day during a traffic stop. After obtaining a search warrant, officers found 26 flyers, a poster board with the victim’s photo on it, and envelopes addressed to the victim’s employer, coworkers, and family members.

According to the Associated Press, Duffey was fired from his position as the political director for Gov. Greg Gianforte’s 2020 campaign. The termination came while he was under investigation after he was accused of using his own car door to strike the side of another car multiple times in a restaurant parking lot in Bozeman. No charges were filed in that case. Prior to his arrest, Lee newspapers’ Montana State News Bureau described Duffey’s involvement in Montana Policy Action, a 501(c)4 nonprofit group.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated the defendant was sentenced to five years in the Montana State Prison when he was actually committed to the Department of Corrections.

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