Sycophant- (n) person who acts obsequiously toward someone important.
Senators Daines and Sheehy certainly can’t stand on principle when they can’t stand at all.
One Montanan’s Take On USAID And Trump’s Hit List
By Susan DeCamp
In 2008, I took an oath to the Constitution as a new Foreign Service Officer while standing under the flagpole in front of the Tactical Operations Center on a Provincial Reconstruction Team base in Farah, Afghanistan. I would go on to spend a total of 10 years in Afghanistan, working for USAID. It was my thing.
Fighting Poverty Under Fire In Afghanistan
As a USAID Development Officer, I lived on remote bases in containers, barracks, and on the Embassy compound. I have been under small arms fire, mortar fire, rocket fire, bombs, and the occasional earthquake. My military colleagues were the most intelligent, strategic and impressive people I have ever met in my life. We worked closely together to actualize counter insurgency initiatives based on the book written by General Petraeus. The military sought to protect the population from the Islamic terrorists as represented by the Taliban, ISIS and what have you. USAID sought to stabilize the country through poverty mitigation.This included: access to education for boys AND girls, access to healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure like roads and schools, government systems, and business support.
The Afghanistan president at the time, Hamid Karzai, insisted we call it reconstruction. In fact, it was building an entire economic system from scratch. (For a history of the Afghanistan conflict, read Ghost Wars by Steve Coll). We may have bitten off more than we could chew, but here is the most important point – these are the basic building blocks of a thriving, growing economy, any economy, anywhere.
Mission and Purpose of USAID
USAID is a “soft power” agency used by the government to head off potential military conflict and terrorist safe havens through the alleviation of poverty and ignorance. We were the “hearts and minds” approach that would hopefully promote democracy around the world, embrace diplomacy, and prevent our young people from being sent off to die in wars in foreign countries.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) was created in 1961 via executive order of President Kennedy. Its creation was based on the success of the Marshall Plan after World War II. It became its own agency in 1998 by an act of Congress. USAID serves as part of the executive branch of government, but it is Congress that provides the budget. USAID funding amounts to less than 1 percent of the total national budget. USAID personnel were posted alongside the military to keep them apprised of who was doing what, where, and when throughout the country. We were part of the counter insurgency (COIN) strategy adopted by the coalition of the willing – known as the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF).
Women’s Empowerment In Afghanistan
I managed a program in Afghanistan called “Promote.” Promote received a special appropriation of funds from Congress and was strictly for Afghan women’s empowerment projects. We were required to touch the lives of 75,000 Afghan women. Security was poor. Pakistan had been steadily sending Taliban, ISIS, and other terrorists into the country. (If you are interested, read the book The Wrong Enemy by Carlotta Gall).
I busted my chops making sure that all was above board with Promote. Having served for so long in the country, I knew most of the players, and I worked hard to make sure internal controls were in place and the projects were documented and effective.
A Special Inspector General With An Axe To Grind
In 2012 John Sopko was appointed Special Inspector General for Afghanistan. We had just about reached the end of the first year of Promote. This was the phase we called rollout, which entailed opening offices around the country and hiring over 90 percent Afghan staff to reach Afghan women. Sopko announced he would be auditing the program. It was the first year of a 5 year program, violating normal audit standards. He tortured us with endless meetings, demands for data, and began to issue his own press releases attacking USAID, and attacking Promote.
The lies came easily to Sopko. I spent time on the phone with Congressional staffers, debunking the lies. I was told by USAID leadership that I could not issue my own press release or correct the record. In the meantime, Promote clipped along doing some amazing work for Afghan women. Politico published an expose of Shopko’s behavior in 2016 titled, “The Donald Trump of inspector generals” https://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/john-sopko-afghanistan-reconstruction-goats-222418
Trump Handed Afghanistan To The Taliban
I was there when Trump sent McMaster to Kabul to seek an end to the continuing conflict. Ignoring McMaster’s advice, Trump sent his team to negotiate with the Taliban terrorists, ignoring the Afghan government we had spent blood and treasure to strengthen.
Trump was responsible for the deal that handed the country to the Taliban. He deliberately spat on the lives of American soldiers who had died and were disabled in the fight against the international threat of Taliban terrorism – just to make people think that we had failed. Lest we forget, Osama Bin Laden was operating out of Afghanistan to attack Americans. My heart was broken, as we knew what giving billions of dollars in US investment to the Taliban meant for Afghan women. Under the terrorist regime, the schools for girls were closed immediately. (See Politico, Sept. 17, 2020 “McMaster Rebukes Trump Over Taliban Talks”)
One More Page In The Republican Play Book
This is how it’s done, folks. These tactics also work on the Department of Education, Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, US Postal System, Social Security Administration, Medicare, etc. Republicans have been quietly gutting these important public support agencies, and lying about it, for years with their malicious political appointees who are only there to destroy. All because billionaires want even more power and do not want to pay taxes or contribute to the well being of our country. What takes centuries to build can be destroyed in days by evil, power seeking men and women.
Guest Post From John Schneeberger in Ravalli County
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.
Newly minted US Senator Timmy Sheehy asked this question of Pete Hegseth, nominee for Secretary of Defense.
