Who is Really Behind these Montana Political Attack Ads?

Paid for by Good Jobs Montana. Doesn't sound like anything nefarious, does it? That is, until we find out that "Good Jobs Montana" is the outside money group backed by the same people who have been fighting to shut down Colstrip and good jobs in Montana.

The group is really just an anti-coal, anti-Colstrip front-group that is backing Democrat gubernatorial candidate Mike Cooney over Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte in Montana's 2020 race for governor.

Have you been hearing all of the absurd ads dominating the airwaves in the 2020 elections here in Montana? Who is behind all of these attack ads? Dave Skinner is one of the last true investigate reporters and has been doing a series of reports for The Flathead Beacon.

Here's an excerpt from his latest piece investigating "Good Jobs Montana":

Patrick Sweeney is an attorney who spent 22 years as executive director of the Billings-based Western Organization of Resource Councils, an anti-development (and by ironic extension, anti-“good-jobs”) nonprofit.

But even Sweeney is merely the face of the organization, renting out a UPS box in the Billings heights. The real operatives calling all the shots and raking in all the dough come straight out of the Washington swamp:

At the end of August, for example, Montana COPP records show Good Jobs had raked in fully $4.225 million from DGA. $3.855 million is already gone, nearly all to Beltway-based media vendors, but about $420,000 went to “Montana 55+, Patrick Sweeney, Treasurer,” which in turn also got almost $18,000 from “Big Sky 55+, Patrick Sweeney, Treasurer.” Further, there’s $268,000 to Montana Conservation Voters Action Fund.

 

Listen to the full audio with Dave Skinner on our "Montana Talks with Aaron Flint podcast." You'll find out who else is involved- the Perkins Coie law firm who was also involved in the 2016 foreign election interference supporting Hillary Clinton, and subsequent spy operation that was launched against President Trump. Our producer Travis Lee described the show this way:

Investigative Reporter Dave Skinner spoke at length about the insufferable cacophony of attack ads, funded with dark money from outside sources.