In 2017, Republican Greg Gianforte bodyslammed a reporter on the eve of a special election in Montana.
Gianforte lied to investigators, but Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin refused to arrest Gianforte for obstruction of justice or malicious intimidate, allowing him to instead plead guilty to a misdemeanor. Gootkin had previously donated to Gianforte, but refused to recuse himself from the case.
Brian Gootkin, the sheriff of Gallatin County, Montana, who is investigating the Gianforte-Ben Jacobs incident, is… https://t.co/oOe49wa03s— Reid J. Epstein (@Reid J. Epstein) 1495679751.0
Now Gianforte is in another scandal as people wonder if violence by a Republican is once again be excused by the powers that be in Bozeman.
"Now one of Gianforte’s top campaign staffers in Gianforte’s bid for Montana’s governorship has allegedly committed a violent incident of his own, attacking a parked car, according to a police report," The Daily Beast reported Monday. "An incident report filed by the Montana police says that Daniel Duffey, Gianforte’s political director and spokesman, bashed a parked car next to his pickup truck on Oct. 26, repeatedly slamming his truck’s door into the other vehicle. Duffey 'opened his car door and struck the side of Vehicle 2 several times, causing visible damage to Vehicle 2,' the report from the Bozeman Police Department reads."
"Andre Zollars, a Montana resident whose daughter owns the damaged car, told The Daily Beast that the incident occurred outside a sushi restaurant in Bozeman on Oct. 26. Zollars said Duffey’s truck was parked over the line separating parking spaces, but that her daughter was able to fit into the parking space anyway," The Beast reported. "When her daughter returned to the car later, however, she discovered that her vehicle had been damaged. Zollars claims Duffey also keyed her daughter’s car, although that isn’t mentioned in the police report. The car received more than $1,600 worth of damage during the incident, according to an mechanic’s estimate Zollars provided to The Daily Beast."
My daughter's car was keyed & the door bashed in by @GregForMontana's political director, Daniel Duffey. She said s… https://t.co/yDvYKSpJMg— AndreZollars (@AndreZollars) 1604288760.0
Duffy has not been criminally charged in the case.
“As soon as we first learned of this, Mr. Duffey was terminated and is no longer with the campaign," the campaign told KBZK in a statement.
Gianforte is running for governor against current Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney.
