Sen. Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton, listens to senators discuss convening an ethics committee to investigate his actions signing a secretive $170,100 contract with a former employee last year. (Micah Drew/ Daily Montanan)
Before Sen. Jason Ellsworth faced allegations of misconduct for signing a $170,000 state contract with his business associate, Bryce Eggleston, the senator from Hamilton pitched Eggleston as a potential candidate for a state communications job.
The communications job never existed. However, Ellsworth presented Eggleston to Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court Bowen Greenwood as a viable candidate should he need a communications director. Ellsworth had run unsuccessfully against current officer holder, Republican and then incumbent Greenwood for Clerk of the state’s highest court in a contested statewide primary.
In an undated letter to Greenwood from summer 2024, Eggleston proposed an appropriate salary would be roughly $87,863 a year, or roughly $176,000 for a biennium.
In the letter, Eggleston said he would bring value to a communications director role for the Montana Supreme Court, but he also was willing to negotiate.
“I understand that your current budget may be limited,” Eggleston wrote. “Let’s discuss your available funds and the remaining time in this fiscal year. I’m confident we can find a mutually beneficial arrangement that addresses our respective needs.”
On Sept. 30, 2024, Ellsworth, then president of the Senate, was the lead signer of a letter to the governor’s budget director in support of a budget change to fund the position in the interim prior to a formal request for the 2025-26 fiscal year.
The role is the second in state government in the last six months to which Ellsworth attempted to connect Eggleston, also from the Bitterroot Valley.
Since canceled, the $170,000 contract Ellsworth signed with Eggleston is the subject of a Legislative Audit report that found the senator abused his leadership position and wasted state resources.
The report resulted in allegations of misconduct by Ellsworth from a Senate ethics committee — and a demand for a correction or retraction from Ellsworth’s lawyer and threat of defamation charges.
Monday, Ellsworth said Eggleston is a trustworthy colleague, and he only intended to support the Clerk of Court if the office needed it.
Ellsworth served as chairperson of a legislative interim Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform, and he said the committee’s decisions had the potential to add to the Clerk of Court’s workload.
He also stressed that other committee members signed the letter of support.
“What it was, was an opportunity if Bowen felt that he needed it,” Ellsworth said. “And you know what? At the end of the day, it wasn’t necessary.”
However, at least a couple of other letter signers viewed the situation differently.
Monday, Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, renewed a call for an internal investigation, since paused, into potential ethical breaches by Ellsworth.
Last week, Democrats with a group of Republicans voted to refer a Senate ethics investigation into the alleged misconduct against Ellsworth to the Department of Justice and pause their own internal probe.
They argued the process would be more fair to Ellsworth and the venue more appropriate in light of allegations of criminal misconduct. They also said it would be removed from political bias.
The DOJ has not responded to a question about how or whether it will proceed, but Republican majority members have argued they have a responsibility to police their own body regardless.
“All these strange things keep popping up, and I think the ethics committee should take it up,” McGillvray said.
‘Perfect for the position’
Greenwood provided the Sept. 30 letter signed by Ellsworth in support of the budget request to the Daily Montanan along with Eggleston’s letter of interest in a communications job.
Last summer, Ellsworth lost his primary race against incumbent Greenwood for Clerk of Court, and Greenwood said Ellsworth approached him about funding a communications person after the primary.
“I was in a peacemaking mood and wanted to sort of repair that relationship, so I thought I would hear him out, at least,” Greenwood said.
Greenwood said Ellsworth told him the Clerk of Court was not running enough opinion pieces about the court’s work, and initially, he broached the idea of appropriating some money in the 2025 legislative session.
But Greenwood said Ellsworth soon shifted from suggesting an appropriation request next session to a “budget change document” for a communications director to start right away.
“He had a guy he thought would be perfect for the position, of course,” Greenwood said. “And I heard him out.”
Greenwood said he is not an expert in appropriations, but he met with Eggleston around Sept. 18 and reviewed his resume, which he said was not in line with his expectations for such a role.
“After looking into it a little bit and also after meeting with Mr. Eggleston and hearing how he wanted the job to work, I was not persuaded that it was a good idea,” Greenwood said.
Among other achievements, Eggleston touted his ability to grow revenue and drive profitability, in addition to streamlining communications, although the application did not include a work history.
The letter of support for a communication/information officer position refers to a “budget change document” the budget director would receive from the Clerk of the Supreme Court, but Greenwood said that document “never actually existed.”
“The idea didn’t originate here. I considered it, and I ended up not doing it,” Greenwood said.
The Governor’s Office could not be immediately reached Tuesday morning by email to address whether the budget office had received such a request from any other source.
Greenwood said he took Ellsworth’s idea seriously, but in retrospect, he wonders if he was “a little bit naïve” about the senator’s motives.
Greenwood also said he never thought that having a communications director write guest editorials was the best way to execute the duties of the Clerk of Court, and staffing in his office has been “pretty well set for a very long time.”
Once he learned Ellsworth and Eggleston, who has not returned requests for comment, had signed a separate contract, he saw commonalities. He did the math, and it came to roughly the same amount as the pitch Eggleston made to his office.
In that contract, Eggleston was to be paid $7,087 a month for 24 months from December 2024 to 2026 to conduct an analysis of bills proposed out of the interim Committee on Judicial Oversight and Reform. Eggleston and Ellsworth originally submitted two contracts splitting the work in half, but legislative staff flagged it as problematic and combined them into a single sole-source contract that led to the waste and abuse investigation.
“The coincidences were immediately apparent,” Greenwood said.
Trying to ‘get a job done’
Ellsworth said in signing the letter supporting a budget request, he was only trying to give Greenwood an opportunity for more resources if the work of the interim committee resulted in a need — which it ultimately did not.
For example, the committee considered forming a new commission to evaluate judges, and Ellsworth said it discussed placing that commission under the Clerk of Court, which would have added to the workload.
“I’m not trying to help Mr. Eggleston. What I’m trying to do is get a job done,” Ellsworth said.
Ellsworth also stressed that other legislators signed the letter of support for the position, although Monday, some signers raised questions about it or said they signed at Ellsworth’s request. At least three signed “by proxy,” or on behalf of a signer.
Sen. Barry Usher, R-Billings, questioned the reason Ellsworth arranged an interview for Eggleston before the letter had even been signed.
Ellsworth, though, said he would refer anyone who was qualified and came to his office asking about an open position if he knew of one.
In this case, no position was open, but Ellsworth said he believes Eggleston would have served well if such a job was available.
He also pointed the finger at other people working at the Capitol with relatives or friends in office.
“Everybody here in this entire building has some relationship with somebody else,” Ellsworth said.
The amount of state support in the contract and the job would have been roughly the same, but Ellsworth declined to speculate on a reason for the similar amounts.
“One is a job. One was a contract. One had nothing to do with the other,” Ellsworth said.
In both instances, other parties disagreed with the need for the expenditures; Greenwood said he didn’t need a communications director, and other members of the interim committee didn’t want to spend money on a contract to track bills.
Ellsworth, though, rejected the idea that on its face, the dealings resemble the government “swamp” of which some members of the public have grown weary.
“Look, Bowen had the opportunity, if he so chose, to hire somebody or not,” Ellsworth said. “And you know what? It wasn’t necessary, so he didn’t.”
Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers, R-Belgrade, made the motion last week to temporarily stop the investigation by the Senate ethics committee and refer it to the DOJ.
Monday, he said he had not yet fully reviewed the new information regarding the communications position and could not comment on whether it would change his desire for an internal investigation.
A unique perspective
In his letter to Greenwood, Eggleston outlined his vision for the communications director role and his qualifications. He suggested “targeted” press releases, “dedicated communication channels” with Republican party leaders, and collaboration with state and local Republican leaders.
Eggleston touted his “expertise in managing complex operations,” and a “proven ability to drive revenue, growth and profitability.” He said he offered a unique perspective to communications along with analytical skills.
He identified his expectations for the job as well. Eggleston said he expected to be fully remote given his track record, have flexible work hours, and receive travel reimbursement.
“While my location is two hours away from the office, I believe this offers a strategic advantage,” Eggleston wrote. “I am readily available for in-person meetings or events when necessary, while also maintaining a sufficient distance to minimize disruptions to your daily routine.
“My primary goal is to alleviate your workload, not increase it.”
Editor’s note: Reporter Micah Drew contributed to this report.