A case argued before the Montana Supreme Court Friday stems from a dispute between Gov. Greg Gianforte and political consultant Jayson O’Neill. Gianforte refused to release documents O’Neill requested that contain advice from state agencies on how the governor should respond to bills from the Legislature.
Before the Montana Supreme Court, Gianforte attorney Dale Schowengerdt argued those documents must be kept private under executive privilege. He said the governor’s advisors wouldn’t offer “robust criticism” of policies if they feared the documents might be made public.
“That is ultimately to the public’s detriment because it impedes the governor’s ability to make the best decision possible on whether to sign or veto a bill,” Schowengert said.
But attorney for the plaintiffs Constance Van Kley argued Montana’s Constitution doesn’t allow the governor to withhold documents unless they violate personal privacy rights.
“It’s a novel request to create a broad, never-before-recognized exception to our fundamental constitutional right to know,” Van Kley said.
A lower court agreed with the plaintiffs that no executive privilege exists in Montana. The state Supreme Court will now have the final say.
