State Senate President Matt Regier, a Republican from Kalispell, finds himself in hot water as the Senate voted to have him investigated for his use of Lakeside attorney Abby Moscatel–the same attorney he hired last session when he was House Speaker. The vote was 34-16 to send the matter to the Senate Ethics Committee.
Regier told the Montana Free Press, in an interview last month, the contracts were compliant with state law. It was Fellow
Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, a Republican from Billings, who called for the filing of a “waste, fraud and abuse” complaint against Regier with the legislative auditor, a move similar to a complaint filed by Regier against former Senate president Jason Ellsworth on Jan. 15.
Sen. Shelley Vance, a Republican from Belgrade, referring Regier’s attorney matter to the Senate Rules Committee ahead of a possible ethics investigation. Vance said she first learned of the attorney hire in a report published by the Montana Free Press on March 5.
The Montana Free Press article addressed Regier’s hiring of a “chief legal counsel to the House majority” during the 2023 legislative session at a time when state law only allowed the House speaker and Senate president to share an attorney. Payments to Moscatel were small enough to not require a contract or the signature of the Senate president, who at that time was Ellsworth.
Moscatel’s work included tasks routinely done by other government employees and legal work that didn’t fit the scope of the law cited in her contract. There was also a contract signed only after the work was done. The total payout from public funds for work during the 2023 session and for two contracts in 2024 was $22,970.
