Guest Post From John Schneeberger in Ravalli County

by Ken Toole | Jan 22, 2025 | Legislature

On the last possible day and against the consensus of committee members. Sen. Jason Ellsworth, chair of the now defunct ‘judicial reform’ committee, inked an unnecessary contract with his Bitterroot pal, Bryce Eggleston.

My State Senator Jason Ellsworth recently was accused of wrongdoing by new Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell.  Montana State News Bureau first reported that Sen. Jason Ellsworth pushed through a $170,000 no-bid contract to a crony from his telemarketing days.

Am I Too Harsh?  Republican Leaders Don’t Think So.

Am I being too harsh here? Current Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell called it “(a) tremendous black eye to not just our party, but to the Senate and to the state.” Sen. Daniel Emrich, R-Great Falls, the co-chair of the same interim committee, said that it was made clear to Ellsworth that the committee did not want to contract out the work and that he felt “lied to,”. Former Senate President Jeff Essmann wrote on social media that it was a stain on the public trust and that Ellsworth should be expelled for it. Senate Judiciary Chair Barry Usher, R-Molt, said that an ethics investigation will be  coming soon.

It All Starts With The Republican Attack On The Judiciary

Jason was the Montana Senate President and chair of the interim judicial oversight committee, that met for months last year, tasked by Republicans with strategizing bills to politicize Montana’s judiciary in the 2025 legislative session.  As his last official act in both capacities, my State Senator finagled through a contract that would enrich his business associate Bryce Eggleston. The contract is for an analysis of 27 bills the committee has ready to introduce during the session to attack the judicial branch.

But, if you’ve got dirty work do, namely politicizing the judicial branch so they can ride roughshod over our rights to privacy and to a clean and healthful environment, you should at least do it with clean hands. But Jason’s urge to do well by doing bad was apparently too much for his colleagues.

Or Were They Mad Because Ellsworth Sided With Democrats?

Or was Jason being punished for siding with Democrats, along with 8 other Republicans, to vote for a motion to effectively scrap a plan for a new Executive Branch Review committee? Critics called it an attempt to manipulate committee assignments to maximize majority control in the Senate.  Whatever the merits, it had the strong backing of the wildlings in the Montana Freedom Caucus, which is good enough for me to trust Democrats on this issue. Jason is calling it a “thinly-veiled political ploy” but has pulled his support for the contract saying it was a distraction from the good work of the committee and that his humiliated buddy doesn’t want to do it now anyway. Legislative Services Executive Director Jerry Howe said that the contract will now be cancelled.

I wonder if Jason had been more of a team player any of this would have come to light. After all, we are talking about people who wholeheartedly support Donald Trump. Regardless, it is always fun to damage political opponents when you have the goods, and it looks to me like they do. It turns out that Ellsworth originally put in a request for two contracts under $100,000, the limit under which sole source contracts must be noticed for 10 days. This raised red flags for legislative staffers as an attempt to get around the rule.  Working with Ellsworth, the Legislative Services and Department of Administration staff worked quickly to merge the contracts. But the new contract of $170,000 was not noticed for the required 10 days. The Department of Administration has not responded as to why.

Also in as much of a hurry as Ellsworth and the DOA, Mr. Eggleston quickly registered his company, Agile Analytics, in December in order to receive a contract to do work for which he had no previous experience. For his part, Senator Regier stated; “It’s, I mean, utterly ridiculous for $170,000 for 27 bills,” Regier said. “That’s something my nephew could do.” No comment from Matt’s nephew. Combine this with the fact that the committee said they didn’t want an outside contract and Ellsworth agreed and then turned around did it anyway, and it’s pretty damning.

Ellsworth’s Slap On The Wrist From Our New Supreme Court Justice, Cory Swanson In 2021

If Jason Ellsworth and hinky behavior sounds familiar, you might remember that he was pulled over for driving 88 miles per hour through a construction zone in Broadwater County in 2021. Ellsworth proceeded to jump out of his car and harangue the officer about the law not applying because he was an important Montana legislator on important Montana legislative business, despite said Montana legislature not being in session. He threatened the officer with a call to Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen. Later charged with obstruction of justice, Broadwater County Attorney, Cory Swanson, longtime Republican activist and newly elected Chief of The Supreme Court slapped that wrist with a $350 fine and a one-year deferred sentence.

Perhaps Jason was correct in pointing out his Republican connections. After all, from reports he wasn’t maced and shackled at the scene, which law and order types might deem an appropriate response for such boorish behavior toward Montana’s finest. I also think that a Montana public servant purporting to act under the color of authority, endangering public employees and obstructing justice should have received more, but I can be naïve sometimes.

Then There Was That Restraining Order

Speaking of Trumpian behavior, in May of 2023 my State Senator was slapped with a temporary order for protection for his girlfriend.  She alleged that he assaulted her and produced a Glock pistol which he challenged her to use on him while lying on top of her. For the record, Jason is a big guy. The girlfriend later dropped the petition for a permanent restraining order, pretty much saying that he was now leaving her alone.  No comment here, other than me quoting the late Ross Perot: “sad, just sad”.

Full disclosure, I ran against Ellsworth in 2022 for the Senate seat. I often referred to him as more of Nixonian character than a Trumpian one. He is someone willing to rouse the right wing conspiracists but not credulous enough to believe them. Jason also fits the Nixonian mode in the tinge, if not the taint of corruption, perfectly complementing the self-regard of a former scrappy telemarketing entrepreneur and hustler.

Welcome to The New Order

No doubt heartened by his success riding the plebs to patrician status as Senate President last session, Jason’s future looked bright. But with the rise of the MAGA/Q-Anon/John Birch Society Republicans, its unlikely to find sympathy for a little Trumpian style corruption unless you toe the party line.