Liberal columnist George Ochenski lays out a clear mission for Attorney General Steve Bullock in this week’s Missoula Independent– put partisan politics and connections aside and investigate the rape scandal at The University of Montana and the City of Missoula.
I’ve heard similar questions from conservatives as well. With the federal government coming in to investigate in Missoula, where is the Attorney General’s office?
I posed that very question to John Doran, a spokesman for Attorney General Steve Bullock (D-MT). Doran said that it was the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice leading the investigation in Missoula. He added that the Montana Department of Justice doesn’t have the authority to investigate civil rights violations.
In a piece titled “Shame on U,” Ochenski said, “corruption doesn’t just come from unfettered campaign spending. What’s happening in Missoula right now deserves Bullock’s attention, too–and a full investigation, starting with the incriminating evidence in those newly released emails.” He then cited the Montana Code’s ethics laws, MCA 2-2-103, and added this:
These highly placed, well-paid individuals are Montanans who have been given the trust of the public and are working for wages and benefits paid by the public, which expects, in return, at least a modicum of integrity in public office and service.
It couldn’t be much clearer that the public’s trust—and the duty to the public—has been subsumed by public officials who were vastly more interested in hiding the truth about UM’s rapes than pursuing it. Despite the risks of alienating some powerful people during his campaign, Bullock would be well-served by turning his attention to Missoula and those who have impeded justice.
Click here to read the full article.