I ardently defend free speech as the cornerstone of democracy. Montanans should always be able to speak their minds freely, criticize leaders, and hold us accountable without fear.
But free speech is not a license for anonymous attacks or faceless smears.
When accusations fly in elections, the person being attacked has every right to face their actual accuser and respond directly. And voters have every right to know who’s paying for the attack. Bottom line: who is really speaking?
Because if you can follow the money, you can see the real motive — not the emotional issue they’re waving in front of you, but the private interest they’re protecting.
Dark money destroys that basic fairness. It lets the accuser hide behind fake names, front groups, or “grassroots” labels while the cash stays dark — no face, no name, no accountability. Just a bushwhack from the shadows.
That’s not free speech. That’s paid-for sabotage with no consequences.
Here’s a real Montana example:
A group calling itself “Mothers Against Child Predators” sent hit-piece mailers aimed at specific Republican legislators they wanted to purge — smearing them as soft on predators and even comparing them to the “Killer Clown.” It was designed to look like terrified mothers fighting to protect their children.
When daylight finally hit it, there were no mothers — just two guys and a treasurer. When the money was traced, it led to Koch-linked, out-of-state dark money pushing right-to-work and corporate tax breaks — the same Koch network that is active today. “Protect kids” was just the costume. The real goal was purging legislators who wouldn’t play ball — and they successfully purged a few good folks.
That’s dark money: purchase a political hit job — dress it up as a moral crusade, then keep the real funders and their agenda in the shadows.
The Disclose Act (2015) helped, but hacks keep finding workarounds.
Right now, significant dark money is hitting Montana in two ways:
• Undisclosed “education” campaigns — no attribution, no clear sponsor, money stays dark.
• Americans for Prosperity (AFP) — a Virginia/D.C. Beltway group tied to the Koch network.
At the GOP Winter Kickoff in Great Falls, AFP Montana Deputy Director Henry Kriegel said their “hard-hitting” ads “honor our donors’ intent.” When asked who the donors are? He admitted he didn’t know.
Let that sink in. AFP is here to “honor our donors’ intent” — donors they won’t name and apparently can’t even identify. I wonder how many of those donors are even Montana residents. Either way, somebody is spending big to steer Montana elections from behind a curtain — exerting influence without accountability.
AFP’s scorecard reveals a telling piece of their agenda. They dock lawmakers for supporting HB 231, the property tax relief bill that cut taxes for 375,000+ Montana homeowners. AFP’s original scorecard wording attacked HB 231 because it “benefited Montana residents as opposed to non-residents.” They changed the wording after that bias got exposed — but not before copies were saved that show exactly what they meant.
Political followers know why Senate District 9 is under heavy fire. Since I arrived in Helena, I’ve put constituents first — over urban party bosses, dark money, and out-of-state interests. I’ve led in that effort.
To dark-money operators — and the ideological hardliners who do their bidding — taking out the informal leader of Republicans focused on solutions over D.C. slogans would be a trophy. Not just to silence me, but to intimidate the rest: kiss the party bosses’ ring, or you’re next.
Normally, running for a Montana Senate seat costs under $50,000. But over the last eight months, campaign managers estimate $300,000 has been spent against me — with the four most intense months still to go. And I still haven’t seen the face of an actual ad funder, so we’re left to guess what the donors’ real interest is in spending this much money.
Montanans deserve better. We deserve to know who’s behind the ads, mailers, and robocalls hitting our feeds. We deserve to judge the message and the messenger. Transparency isn’t censorship — it’s the only way to protect real debate and real democracy.
In a representative republic, constituents always come first — not faceless donors.
Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, is the of the Chairman of House Appropriations.