Today in Helena

Government

A Week of Accountability — or the Lack of It — in Montana Government

If there was a theme running through Helena's political coverage this week, it was this: the people in power are being watched, and some of them don't like it. State investigators found that Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar committed 'serious misconduct,' including unwelcome sex-based comments and retaliation against the colleagues who reported him. State Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy — who faces separate sexual abuse allegations — was stripped of his committee assignments in a rare bipartisan move, then turned around and announced he was resuming his U.S. House campaign anyway, dismissing the allegations as political. Meanwhile, the Montana Supreme Court ordered Attorney General Austin Knudsen to formally respond to a petition tied to immigration data sharing, and Knudsen's office separately drew protesters to the Capitol steps over a lawsuit targeting federal disability protections under Section 504. Taken together, it was a week that raised pointed questions about who holds Montana's officials accountable — and how much that accountability actually bites. Windy Boy and Knudsen each appeared multiple times across this week's editions, making them two of the most-covered figures in the state right now.