The state’s legislative auditor says a sitting legislator abused his power and wasted government resources when he gave a public contract to a longtime business associate.
Lee Newspapers’ Montana State News Bureau first reported that Republican Sen. Jason Ellsworth of Hamilton made a last-minute deal to give colleague Bryce Eggleston a $170,000 contract, skipping the standard bid process. Eggleston was directed to monitor the progress of bills that regulate the judiciary.
Ellsworth signed off on the deal in a final act as the Senate President and chair of a special interim committee. Both positions concluded on January 1. The state Department of Administration Ok'd the deal.
Although Ellsworth filed paperwork to cancel the contract after it was publicly criticized, state auditors continued investigating the matter. The division concluded Friday that there’s no logical reason Ellsworth pursued the contract in the manner that he did other than to “unlawfully avoid oversight of the contracts.”
Ellsworth called the criticism over the contract a “manufactured controversy.”
