A conservative watchdog filed a complaint Monday against a left-wing Super PAC spending massive sums of money in the Montana GOP Senate primary.
Americans for Public Trust (APT) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the Last Best Place PAC, an organization founded in September 2023 and bankrolled by Majority Forward, a group aligned with Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader. (RELATED: Criminal Investigation Into Cori Bush’s Campaign Funds Long Overdue, Watchdogs Say)
READ THE COMPLAINT:
“Last Best Place PAC has engaged in significant spending without filing a single 48-hour independent expenditure report as required by the Act. Important information, including the date, amount, and purpose of the expenditure — as well as the identified candidate that the independent expenditure is supporting or opposing — is being unlawfully shielded from the public,” APT’s complaint asserts, citing the Federal Election Campaign Act.
“Without this reporting, Last Best Place PAC is in violation of the Act, and is failing to meet the legal requirements and basic standards of transparency to which every other independent expenditure committee is required to adhere,” the complaint added.
Last Best Place has spent $5.8 million attacking Montana Republican senate candidate Tim Sheehy with ads such as “Shady Sheehy” and “Sure Is Shady” portraying Sheehy as a wealthy, outsider businessman, The New York Times reported.
There are no 48-hour spending reports listed on Last Best Place’s FEC page. The group’s end-of-2023 report shows it received $2.1 million from Majority Forward from its founding to the end of December 2023. Last Best Place did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Last Best Place PAC is masquerading as a local Montana operation while quietly laundering millions of dollars from DC liberals,” said APT Executive Director Caitlin Sutherland. “Spending massive sums of money to impact this election without filing the legally required reports flies in the face of the letter and spirit of our election laws. This behavior warrants an immediate investigation by the FEC in order to uphold the basic standards of transparency and public trust.”
Sheehy is a political novice and Navy SEAL backed by Republican Senate leadership and Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte. Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale, who lost to incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in 2018, is expected to challenge Sheehy.
Rosendale has until March 11 to file his candidacy.