Montana GOP faulted for ignoring political watchdogs order
HELENA — Montana’s chief political watchdog has ruled that a state Republican Party campaign committee failed to comply with an earlier ruling requiring it to provide better detail about electioneering activities in last fall’s legislative elections.
In an unrelated ruling also made public on Tuesday, Commissioner of Political Practices Jeff Mangan also dismissed a complaint accusing a group opposing the campaign of now-Associate Supreme Court Justice Dirk Sandefur of improperly reporting and disclosing campaign contributions. While the commissioner found no violations, he chided the group for its combative posture when an investigation was opened last October.
In his findings against the state Republican Party, Mangan noted that an earlier ruling made by his predecessor would have been dismissed if the party had updated its campaign spending reports as ordered.
The original ruling stems from a complaint filed by the Montana Democratic Party in September accusing Republicans of not properly detailing their spending on various legislative races.
Read more: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/politics/2017/07/11/montana-gop-faulted-ignoring-political-watchdogs-order/103601460/