State Senate President Matt Regier (pictured above), a Republican from Kalispell, has been cleared of waste, fraud or abuse accusations by a majority of Senators. The investigations, conducted by Legislative Auditor Angus Maciver, surround Regier’s use of outside legal counsel – both last session as House Speaker and this year as Senate President.
Rules only allow for one special counsel attorney between Senate and House leadership. As first reported by the Montana Free Press, Regier had proposed a bill in 2023 that would allow individual attorneys. That bill died on the final day of that session. By that time, Abby Jane Moscatel of Lakeside, had registered as “Chief Legal Justice to the House Majority” and had been working with Regier for three months. According to the Free Press, Moscatel was paid $22,970 in state funds.
Earlier, the Senate voted down expelling or censuring former Senate President Jason Ellsworth, a Republican from Hamilton over a similar matter. That case is being investigated by the Department of Justice.
