Investigation beings on Senate president’s hiring of private counsel
Clayton Murphy
HELENA (UM Legislative News Service) — As the Montana Legislature hits its mid-session break, a second Senate leader is in the hot seat over a contract he made before this session convened.
On the eve of the first hearing on ethics allegations against former Republican Senate President Jason Ellsworth, lawmakers voted Thursday evening to refer current Senate President Matt Regier to the Legislative Audit Division.
The decision came after lawmakers learned about his hiring of a private attorney as his personal counsel while serving as Speaker of the House in 2023. Regier, not expecting the move, called any accusations of impropriety in the hiring “completely false” and a “witch hunt.”
“I'm happy to send it to audit, expect a 100 percent exoneration, and then we can get back to really rooting out corruption,” Regier said.
Rules only allow for one special counsel attorney between Senate and House leadership. As first reported by the Montana Free Press, Regier had proposed a bill in 2023 that would allow individual attorneys, but it died on the final day of the session. By that time, Abby Jane Moscatel had registered as “Chief Legal Justice to the House Majority” and had been working with Regier for three months. The Free Press reports that through Regier, Moscatel has been paid $22,970 in state funds.
After an initial motion on the Senate floor Thursday to send the case to the Senate Ethics Committee, lawmakers ultimately voted to file a waste, fraud and abuse complaint to the Legislative Audit Division. Billings Republican Senator Daniel Zolnikov made the final motion, saying the move was an effort to stay consistent with the investigation into Ellsworth.
“ Let the Audit do the report, and let them do the findings. That would be intellectually honest and consistent,” Zolnikov said.
The state Department of Justice is investigating Ellsworth on criminal charges concerning a $170,000 contract he signed in the final days of his Senate presidency with an associate and former employee.
Ellsworth contracted Bryce Eggleston to track bills proposed for the 2025 session that deal with the powers of the judiciary should they become law. The Senate Ethics Committee is also investigating Ellsworth on ethics violations in the case and started hearing from witnesses on Friday.