Group behind Supreme Court ads disputes state filing order

MATT VOLZ

Associated Press

HELENA — An organization that has spent $268,000 to influence a Montana Supreme Court election doesn’t need to register as a political committee with the state, an attorney for the group said in a letter to Montana’s commissioner of political practices Wednesday.

The letter by Republican State Leadership Committee attorney Trevor Stanley was in response to Commissioner Jonathan Motl’s order to register and disclose its spending that went to an organization that produced a website and ads questioning District Judge Dirk Sandefur’s toughness on crime.

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