Controversial political group could be shutting down

A controversial political group that won several important election law cases since 2010 but refused to divulge the names of its members and donors or its finances could be on its way out of business.

The “social welfare nonprofit” organization American Tradition Partnership, formerly known as Western Tradition Partnership, will continue to exist as a legal entity, the group’s attorney, James Brown, said Jan. 22, but it’s “not active at his point, I can say that with some clarity,” he added.

While noting that he was still ATP’s attorney, Brown indicated he might be leaving the group. Several weeks earlier, ATP’s executive director, Donny Ferguson, announced he was leaving to work as a spokesman for Rep. Steve Stockman, R-Texas.

Founded in May 2009 by former Republican U.S. Representative for Montana Ron Marlenee and former Montana legislator John Sinrud, ATP claimed to be a “grassroots organization” that promoted responsible natural resource development, private property rights and multiple use of public lands.

ATP’s biggest legal victory came on Oct. 18, 2010, when Lewis and Clark County District Court Judge Jeffrey Sherlock agreed with ATP that, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling earlier that year, Montana’s 1912 Corrupt Practices Act was unconstitutional.

Like the Citizens United decision, Sherlock’s ruling opened up Montana elections to unlimited contributions by corporations so long as the money did not go directly to candidates or was coordinated with candidates’ campaigns.

Three days after Sherlock’s ruling, then Commissioner of Political Practices Dennis Unsworth charged ATP and another group with violating the state’s campaign finance laws on numerous occasions.

Unsworth’s allegations followed a two-year investigation into ATP’s activities in 19 Montana legislative races in 2008, including the House District 3 race in which Mick Holm, D-Columbia Falls, lost to Dee Brown, R-Coram, and the House District 8 race in which Cheryl Steenson, D-Kalispell, defeated Craig Witte, R-Kalispell.

ATP continued its work in the 2010 election. Locally, it mailed cards and newsletters opposed to Whitefish Democrat Will Hammerquist, who lost the 2010 race for House District 4 to Kalispell Republican Derek Skees.

On Oct. 30, days before the general election, PBS Frontline presented a television documentary about ATP that heavily relied on a box of ATP documents recovered from a meth house near Denver, Colo. The next day, a security guard in Helena found evidence that the office of the Political Practices office might have been burglarized. The ATP documents by that time were in a different location.

Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R-Kalispell, and Rep. John Esp, R-Big Timber, filed complaints with the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices on Dec. 3 claiming ATP and several other groups violated state election laws.

Tutvedt’s primary race in 2012 was described at the time as the most expensive legislative race in Montana. He provided 53 pages of documentation to support his claims and called for an investigation of the group.

ATP suffered a major setback on Jan. 4 when Sherlock ruled that ATP’s actions during the 2008 election made it a political committee as defined by the state, and that ATP therefore must report its spending and donor names as required by state law.

Sherlock went on to say that ATP used its nonprofit status “as a subterfuge to avoid compliance with state disclosure and disclaimer laws.” He had dismissed much of ATP’s lawsuit three weeks earlier after the group failed to produce requested documents in court.

Shortly after the decision, Brown said the group’s board of directors was considering its next move. He noted that the legal system left ATP in a conflict.

“In light of this order, if you’re going to challenge the state’s ability to regulate you, you do not want to be the one who files suit because all of the materials that you want to keep private become public just because you filed suit,” Brown said.

State attorney Michael Black has said he will ask Sherlock to penalize ATP. But if the group no longer exists, and its members remain unknown, it’s unsure the state will ever collect a fine.

Meanwhile, Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester have called for new federal laws ensuring full and open disclosure of campaign finances. Baucus has even called for a constitutional amendment to undo the effects of the Citizens United ruling.