This morning, Americans for Public Trust (APT) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Last Best Place PAC for failing to file a single 48-hour independent expenditure report, despite spending more than $5 million dollars in attack ads in the Montana Senate race.
“Last Best Place PAC is masquerading as a local Montana operation while quietly laundering millions of dollars from DC liberals,” said Caitlin Sutherland, APT executive director. “Spending massive sums of money to impact this election without filing the legally required reports flies in the face of the letter and spirit of our election laws. This behavior warrants an immediate investigation by the FEC in order to uphold the basic standards of transparency and public trust.”
Click here to read reporting on the FEC complaint.
Background
- In September 2023, The Last Best Place PAC filed its Statement of Organization as an independent expenditure committee.
- Despite choosing an organization name that borrows from Montana’s state nickname, Last Best Place PAC receives the entirety of funding from Majority Forward, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- The Last Best Place PAC ran ads referring to Tim Sheehy as “Shady Sheehy” and a “millionaire politician” who “says one thing and does another” and is “now spending millions to buy our [Montana] Senate seat.”
- The law requires that express advocacy must pass a subjective test, meaning any reasonable person would understand that the ad is advocating for or against a certain candidate.
- Despite spending heavily on express advocacy against an identified candidate, Last Best Place PAC has not filed a single 48-hour independent expenditure report.
- Without this reporting, the PAC is failing to meet the legal requirements and basic standards of transparency to which every other independent expenditure committee is required to adhere.
