End Citizens United (ECU) today filed a complaint with the Department of Justice (DOJ) calling for an investigation into Montana U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy. The complaint states that Sheehy failed to file a complete and accurate personal financial disclosure report (PFD), as required by law.
“Tim Sheehy is engaging in shady political practices by failing to accurately report his financial interests. This is a calculated move intended to prevent Montanans from identifying corruption and conflicts of interest,” said Tiffany Muller, President of End Citizens United. “Voters are wary of the fact that he’s an out-of-state multi-millionaire running for public office, and they deserve transparent, detailed disclosure reports in order to scrutinize his financial interests. We urge the DOJ to investigate Sheehy and hold him accountable for withholding this critical information.”
The violations:
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On October 29, 2023, Tim Sheehy filed his PFD, listing his net worth between $74 million and $260 million.
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When filing PFDs, candidates must include any assets held by themselves, their spouse, or their dependent children for investment or production of income that was valued more than $1,000 at the close of the reporting period or generated more than $200 in unearned income during the reporting period.
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Sheehy failed to disclose and itemize the underlying assets of up to nine different investments—none of which have been identified as an Excepted Investment Fund (EIF), which would not require reporting of underlying assets. These critical omissions in his reportings are an apparent violation of the required disclosure obligations for his PFDs.
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Candidates also are required to report “any agreements or arrangements made concerning […] future employment (including any current arrangement with a publisher to write a book or any portion thereof for compensation).”
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Despite the clear instructions of inclusion, Sheehy also failed to properly report his arrangement with a major publisher for the release of his book.
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Sheehy also failed to properly disclose all sources of compensation in his PFD. He claimed no entity paid more than $5,000 to him in the preceding two years, but reported five separate entities that paid him between $86,000 and in excess of $5,000,000 in a separate part of his report.
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Candidates must also report all sources of compensation that paid more than $5,000 to the filer, including the source of compensation, the name and address of the source, and the nature of the duties or services rendered for each source.
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This is a clear violation of the requirements for his PFD and raises more questions as to whether Sheehy failed to disclose any additional sources of compensation or any clients that he provided more than $5,000 of services, even if the client payments were made to another entity.
Click here to read the complaint.
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