HELENA, Mont. (AP) – Montana’s attorney general told supporters he skirted the state’s campaign finance laws by inviting another Republican to run against him as a token candidate in next month’s primary so he could raise more money for the Montana general election. November, according to a recording of a fundraising event.
“Technically, I have a primary,” said the attorney general Austin Knudsen said last week when asked at the event who was running against him. “Yet he is a young man who I asked to run against me because our campaign laws are ridiculous.”
Knudsen separately faces dozens of allegations of professional misconduct of state law office discipline as he seeks a second term. He made the comments about his primary opponent during a May 11 fundraiser in Dillon, Montana, according to recording obtained by the Daily Montananwhich is part of the nonprofit States Newsroom.
In the recording, Knudsen is heard saying that Logan Olson “filed to run against me simply because, under our current campaign finance laws in Montana, it allows me to raise more money. So, he supports me and will vote for me.”
Knudsen’s campaign manager, Jake Eaton, declined to comment on the recording.
Olson, district attorney for a rural northeastern Montana county, denied being recruited by Knudsen. Campaign finance records indicate his filing fee was paid by a longtime Republican operative who is also a Knudsen donor.
The state campaign finance watchdog agency, the Commissioner of Political Practices, is investigating complaints filed by the executive director of the Montana Democratic Party that allege a deal between Knudsen and Olson.
Under state law, a person cannot pay or “promise valuable consideration” to another person to induce them to run or to withdraw from running.
Complaints from Democrat Sheila Hogan say Knudsen began collecting donations exceeding the $790 per person allowed without a primary opponent long before Olson filed suit on March 11 — the last day to file candidates.
“Olson is not a bona fide, legitimate candidate for attorney general,” both complaints state.
Eaton said it was “common practice for candidates to accept primary and general contributions and then return the money if there is no contested primary.”
He suggested that the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Ben Alke, a Bozeman attorney, was also accepting more money than allowed from individual donors.
However, a search of Alke’s campaign finance reports only shows contributions to his primary campaign.
Knudsen and Olson have until May 23 to respond to the complaints, although Olson has requested an extension, Commissioner Chris Gallus said Friday.
Olson did not raise or spend any money on the dispute, according to a report filed by his treasurer on Friday.
His April campaign finance report listed a debt of more than $1,500 to Standard Consulting of Helena for reimbursement of his registration fee.
“I paid Logan’s registration fee and helped him run,” Chuck Denowh, a Republican operative and owner of Standard Consulting, said in an email Friday. “I did it because he asked me to.”
Denowh donated $1,580 to Knudsen — $790 each for the primary and general elections.
Alke said allegations of professional misconduct and other actions by Knudsen are why he is running for attorney general.
Knudsen faces 41 counts of professional misconduct over allegations that his office tried to undermine the Montana Supreme Court while defending a challenge to a state law on judicial appointments. The Practice Committee is expected to hear the case in mid-July and recommend whether Knudsen should be punished.
Separately, in early 2021, Knudsen ordered the Lewis and Clark County attorney to dismiss concealed weapons charges against a man who allegedly threatened a restaurant manager who was trying to enforce the state’s pandemic mask mandate. Knudsen’s office later defended the case until disorderly conduct.
In October 2021, a Helena hospital said three unspecified public employees threatened doctors after refusing to treat a COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, a parasite medication that has not been federally approved for the virus. Knudsen’s office later confirmed that he participated in a conference call with hospital executives and that he sent a Montana Highway Patrol officer to the hospital to speak with the patient’s family after they alleged mistreatment — something the hospital denied.
“This type of conduct from the legal director and Montana State Trooper is inappropriate and I hope people pay attention because this is just one of several problems with Austin Knudsen,” Alke said Thursday.
