Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte doesn’t just avoid jail, but he gets the chance to expunge this assault from his record after six months, provided he doesn’t go assaulting anymore reporters:
WASHINGTON TIMES – Montana’s next congressman, Greg Gianforte, avoided jail time Monday after pleading guilty to assaulting a reporter the day before he was elected.
Gallatin County Justice of the Peace Rick West sentenced the Republican technology entrepreneur to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management counseling and ordered him to pay a $385 fine for the misdemeanor. If he remains law abiding for 180 days, he can petition for the conviction to be removed from his record.
Gianforte’s attorneys noted that he had already paid more than $4,600 in restitution to Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs for the assault, which cast a pall over his May 25 victory to serve the remainder of Ryan Zinke’s term. Zinke resigned to become Interior Department secretary.
Gianforte, 56, is expected to be sworn in to the state’s sole U.S. House seat later this month.
I never expected Gianforte would end up in jail, but I did expect him to pay a bigger criminal fine than $385 dollars. That’s pocket change to him.
He is paying a very substantial amount after settling a civil case:
In the civil settlement, Gianforte agreed to give $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists and wrote Jacobs a letter of apology in which he acknowledged assaulting the reporter for asking a “legitimate question about health care policy.”
Any guesses on what nickname they are going to give Gianforte when he gets to Congress?