Vox - Montana special electionhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52517/voxv.png2017-05-26T10:20:02-04:00http://www.vox.com/rss/stream/154556992017-05-26T10:20:02-04:002017-05-26T10:20:02-04:00Ben Jacobs should reject Greg Gianforte’s apology
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<img alt="Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-MT), sharing “something from my heart” at his victory party last night." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/teQp33xHH9uwVw25ypQig1csDE0=/0x0:3000x2250/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54962875/688511330.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Greg Gianforte told Montana voters he needed to “share something from my heart” last night. | Photo by Janie Osborne/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="IQNk4Z">Midway through his victory speech late Thursday night, newly-elected House member Greg Gianforte (R-MT) choked up as he began to address allegations that he assaulted a reporter the day before. “I should not have responded in the way I did, and for that I’m sorry,” he said.</p>
<p id="WdCNhf">Gianforte was charged with a misdemeanor after he reportedly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2017/may/25/guardian-ben-jacobs-body-slam-video-greg-gianforte?CMP=share_btn_tw">body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs</a> at a campaign barbecue Wednesday night. But fresh off defeating Democrat Rob Quist in Montana’s special election, Gianforte <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/05/26/gianforte-apology-sot-speech.cnn">turned somber and hushed</a> the crowd of cheering supporters in front of him:</p>
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<p id="718efM">Last night, I learned a lesson. I need to share something from my heart here, and I ask you to bear with me. When you make a mistake, you have to own up to it. That’s the Montana way. </p>
<p id="NDrqMK">Last night, I took an action I can’t take back, and I’m not proud of what happened. I should not have responded in the way I did, and for that I’m sorry. I should not have treated that reporter that way, and for that, I’m sorry Mr. Ben Jacobs. I also want to apologize for the Fox News team that was there. I’m sorry to each one of you.</p>
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<p id="c3xGPC">It was a classic politician’s apology. Gianforte appeared contrite, said he was sharing “something from my heart,” and acknowledged that he was “not proud of what happened.” </p>
<p id="RjRLHW">His apology also sidestepped many of the most egregious parts of the story. It’s worth boring in on what exactly Gianforte is admitting to doing wrong — and what, more importantly, he is not. </p>
<p id="Jd9oo3">Gianforte apologized for taking unspecified action against both Jacobs and a crew of Fox News reporters who were in the room when the attack occurred. Gianforte does not admit that he body-slammed Jacobs. He does not acknowledge raining punches down on Jacobs while on top of him, or sending him to the hospital, or breaking the reporter’s glasses. All Gianforte admits is that he “took an action that I can’t take back” and that he “should not have treated that reporter that way.” </p>
<p id="N1OdkM">What way? Only the day before, Gianforte portrayed himself as a helpless victim of an assault he alleged was <em>initiated by Jacobs</em>. "Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground," Gianforte spokesperson Shane Scanlon said in a statement in the final hours of the campaign. "It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created a scene.”</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full statement from Greg Gianforte campaign about alleged assault on <a href="https://twitter.com/guardian">@Guardian</a> reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs">@Bencjacobs</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bdcnews?src=hash">#bdcnews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mtal?src=hash">#mtal</a> <a href="https://t.co/AQxkJ3uVXX">pic.twitter.com/AQxkJ3uVXX</a></p>— Whitney Bermes (@wabermes) <a href="https://twitter.com/wabermes/status/867541538460585984">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p id="xqLuPh">Many of Gianforte’s voters <a href="https://twitter.com/alexis_levinson/status/867849890919055360">believed this version of the story</a> and told reporters that they didn’t believe Jacobs. But the apology raises troubling new questions. Did Gianforte lie when he accused Jacobs of being the aggressor? If Gianforte’s apology is sincere, then did he falsely charge another person with an assault that he himself committed? The tech billionaire has done nothing to correct the record or retract his earlier statement.</p>
<p id="jyEmtD">It’s worth highlighting that Gianforte is only gingerly walking back his story <em>after</em> Fox News reporters published eye-witness accounts supporting Jacobs’s version of the fight. He’s also only apologizing <em>after</em> Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), the state’s Republican senator, and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan <a href="https://twitter.com/PeterAlexander/status/867806103660363779">called on him to do so.</a></p>
<p id="OJ4WaT">But imagine the position Jacobs would have found himself in had the Fox News account not emerged. When Gianforte first accused Jacobs of attacking him, only the Republican candidate and the reporter had explained what had occurred. Gianforte’s statement would have made Jacobs’s claims look invented or hysterical. (Some are accusing Jacobs of inventing the story anyway.) The entire conservative media would almost certainly be faster on his heels than they <a href="http://twitchy.com/samj-3930/2017/05/26/awkward-ben-jacobs-tweet-about-wanting-to-punch-a-conservative-journo-hasnt-aged-well/">already are</a>. Jacobs would have only had his word against that of a newly elected Congress member. Helpless to respond, he would have been castigated as a sensationalist and attention-seeking member of the reviled DC media establishment. </p>
<p id="7PmPrn">As <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15689926/greg-gianforte-congress-questions-tougher">Vox’s Tara Golshan notes</a>, Gianforte will face many more tough and aggressive questions from reporters once he gets to Capitol Hill. The relationship is often a two-way street. Politicians often lament that journalists mischaracterize their actions. But can journalists trust Gianforte not to twist theirs? Can other lawmakers? Can voters?</p>
<p id="UGgtVD">Gianforte’s apology is a step in the right direction. It’s not nearly close enough. And until Gianforte owns up to dangerously gas-lighting a member of the press, Jacobs should reject this token, meager, woefully incomplete peace offering.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2017/5/26/15697456/montana-republican-gianforteJeff Stein2017-05-25T18:30:02-04:002017-05-25T18:30:02-04:00Montana special election results: live updates
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<img alt="Bernie Sanders Campaigns With MT Democratic Congressional Candidate Rob Quist" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6IWLGzvCYe5dw16DLpcF0b9BrMc=/0x15:3000x2265/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54955049/686405866.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="GArEzd"><strong>Update Thursday night:</strong> Greg Gianforte has been <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/26/15695534/montana-gianforte-special-election">declared the winner in the special election</a>.</p>
<p id="kGqaaM">A wild, bitterly contested special election for Montana’s lone congressional seat will come to a close on Thursday night — just one day after Republican candidate Greg Gianforte was charged with assaulting a reporter.</p>
<p id="mB9R7s">The seat opened up after President Donald Trump appointed former Rep. Ryan Zinke as his interior secretary. Democrat Rob Quist, well known across the state for his banjo playing but facing criticism over a checkered history of failed debt payments, is looking for an upset in a state Trump won by 20 points this fall.</p>
<p id="VJHRZK">Polls across the state are expected to close at 8 pm Montana time (10 pm EST). If you’re on the East Coast and eager to learn the results, it may make more sense to just wait until tomorrow morning. As the New York Times’s Nate Cohn writes, it could be well after the polls close before we get a final victory.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bad news about Montana: The count could take a while.<br>D primary wasn't called until 2AM (Sanders+7)<br>Gov '16 wasn't called until 10AM (D+4)</p>— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/867807309698916352">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p id="DxYjto">If you (like us!) are staying up until the ballots are counted, check back here for updates. </p>
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<p id="WV1LS0">Montana is also posting <a href="http://sos.mt.gov/elections/election-results">vote totals on its website</a>. And for live analysis, three of the best Twitter accounts you can follow for election night are <a href="https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn">Cohn</a>, the <a href="https://twitter.com/DecisionDeskHQ">DecisionDesk</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Redistrict">the Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman</a>.</p>
<p id="PaJWR3">In the meantime, here’s a brief guide to the two main candidates in the race — as well as what the outcome may mean for the national political scene as Democrats look for their first election win of the Trump era.</p>
<h3 id="SOQsGO">Who are the candidates in Montana’s special election?</h3>
<p id="rSxtjf">Even though the Montana race may have consequences for evaluating the national political landscape, the outcome may be just as shaped by the personalities and personal eccentricities of the candidates themselves.</p>
<p id="YuBgAX">Quist, 69, is renowned at home as a founding member of the Mission Mountain Wood Band (M2WB). Attacked by his opponents as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/06/rob-quist-montana-congress-democrat-banjo-hippie"><strong>“cowboy hat wearing hippie,”</strong></a> Quist has praised Bernie Sanders and made affordable health care and defending public lands the centerpieces of his campaign. He’s well known in the state for his music, which leads to headlines about “the poet” running for Congress and allows Quist to get away with campaign lines like, “I’ve really been representing Montana through my music and poetry all my life.”</p>
<p id="Q0xyaZ">More recently, Quist has come under a barrage of criticism for his personal financial history. In 2013, he was sued by Mission Mountain Wood Band bassist Steve Riddle for breach of contract. In May, the Associated Press <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/democrat-in-house-race-blames-health-bills-for-tax-liens/article_7eed1b5a-6937-54e2-b06b-442d6bb6a9a9.html"><strong>revealed</strong></a> that Montana filed three tax liens to collect about $15,000 in back taxes from Quist. A subsequent AP report showed that he <a href="http://helenair.com/news/politics/montana-dem-in-u-s-house-bid-underreported-income-by/article_381e0123-bc77-518a-95e2-47121e10592a.html"><strong>underreported his income by $57,000</strong></a> — an <a href="https://www.gop.com/from-policy-to-personal-finances-rob-quist-cant-keep-his-story-straight/"><strong>embarrassment Republicans seized </strong></a>on immediately.</p>
<p id="4uzQQU">Still, it’s not as if Quist’s opponent comes through as a squeaky-clean candidate, either.</p>
<p id="4FN430">Gianforte, 56, was born in California, educated in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and only came to Montana in 1995. After moving to Montana, Gianforte <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/government-and-politics/governor-candidate-gianforte-sued-state-in-over-access-to-river/article_951b0234-304c-5570-b90e-83e92fb8c976.html"><strong>sued to try to keep people from being able to fish</strong></a> in a stream that ran by his property.</p>
<p id="YsLAhB">As The Huffington Post <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rob-quist-a-montana-special-election-nobody-is-following-could-deal-a-huge-blow-to-trump_us_58e3fcc5e4b03a26a3670c30"><strong>notes</strong></a>, Gianforte ran for governor and lost to Gov. Steve Bullock (D-MT) in 2016. In the process, he spent more than $5 million of his own money in a failed gubernatorial bid. That was good for airing 30,661 television ads — more than that of any other state candidate in history, a staggering figure in such a small state.</p>
<p id="OsPHO4">Gianforte’s career has led Quist to seek inroads with voters by portraying his opponent as a corporate stooge. “The other choices we’re offered are really connected to corporate America, which in a lot of ways has undue influence on the politics of our country,” Quist<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/06/rob-quist-montana-congress-democrat-banjo-hippie"><strong> told the Guardian</strong></a>. “My goal is to be a strong, independent voice for the people of Montana.”</p>
<h3 id="P7jMqn">A close Montana race could bolster Democratic recruiting efforts</h3>
<p id="2oi2nA">In 2016, House Democrats didn’t just face the obstacle of gerrymandering when going up against the GOP. They <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/10/12/13246866/donald-trump-house-democrats"><strong>also ran a slew of extraordinarily weak candidates</strong></a> in red but achievable districts, including someone who had been unemployed for the past six years and a beekeeper with no elected experience.</p>
<p id="hzew2d">The special elections held so far — including Democrats’ surprisingly strong showings in Georgia and Kansas — have helped encourage better Democratic candidates to throw their hats into the ring. Another surprisingly close race could indicate that Republicans face a rough map in 2018, which may encourage more qualified Democratic candidates to enter local races.</p>
<p id="gLX1wm">“If the general feeling is that it represents a warning sign for Republicans, that has strong implications for whether Democratic candidates jump in for 2018,” said Dave Hopkins, a Boston College political scientist.</p>
<p id="2OWAnh">And the reverse effect also holds: If Republicans sense they’re in for a rough reelection bid, then vulnerable Republican incumbents will race toward the exits — creating more opportunities for House Democrats.</p>
<p id="FO9VY2">“There’s a self-fulfilling prophecy here, as incumbents consider retirement thinking they’ll face a tough race, which in turn makes the field tougher for Republicans,” Hopkins said.</p>
<p id="P9nlgx">We’re already getting signs that this trend is underway, with the unexpected <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article147718764.html"><strong>retirement</strong></a> of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) in a competitive Florida House seat. A scare for the GOP in Montana would accelerate it.</p>
<h3 id="3R2XhZ">Implications for health care on Capitol Hill</h3>
<p id="ErMn43">Similarly, on Capitol Hill, the Montana race put Republicans’ legislative agenda on ice. In particular, the Montana race may reveal the extent to which Republicans embrace House Speaker Paul Ryan’s American Health Care Act at their own political peril.</p>
<p id="rR1h8A">On the campaign trail, Quist has responded to his personal travails by emphasizing the horror of the Republican health care bill. Last week, he hosted a series of “Hands Off Our Health Care” events around the state. His rallies around the state with Sanders were billed as attempts <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/05/22/rallies-across-montana-sanders-and-quist-rail-against-un-american-healthcare-plan"><strong>to rail against the “un-American health care plan.”</strong></a> His last ad buy, “Preexisting,” goes after Republicans for ending the Affordable Care Act’s protections for patients with preexisting conditions:</p>
<p id="GJOfsm">There’s a good reason for Quist’s team to go after the AHCA rather than Trump: The president remains popular in Montana. Meanwhile, the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare covered 70,000 Montanans, the AHCA is polling in the mid-20s nationally, and the approval rating of Obamacare is <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/25/15419512/obamacare-poll-popular"><strong>skyrocketing</strong></a>.</p>
<p id="MTMKgs">Gianforte, meanwhile, has mostly ducked questions about his support for Ryan’s health care bill. A tape obtained by the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/05/us/politics/montana-house-special-election-greg-gianforte-health-bill.html"><strong>revealed</strong></a> that Gianforte had praised the bill behind closed doors, but has said he wouldn’t <a href="http://mtpr.org/post/greg-gianforte-splits-trump-house-healthcare-bill"><strong>have voted </strong><strong>for </strong><strong>it because</strong></a> of a lack of “data.” </p>
<p id="J5Qt8y">The “data” that came out on <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15685760/ahca-cbo-score-new">Wednesday night</a> from the Congressional Budget Office, which conducts official analysis of bills, looked bad — an estimated 23 million more Americans would be uninsured in 10 years than under current law, as well grim outcomes for patients with preexisting conditions.</p>
<p id="B6U8BL">A Guardian reporter, Ben Jacobs, was allegedly assaulted after asking Gianforte about the health care bill. Gianforte ran after being attacked over the AHCA. If Quist wins in a statewide race viewed as a referendum on the bill, Senate Republicans may be less willing to pass it.</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15694566/montana-special-electionJeff Stein2017-05-25T17:10:01-04:002017-05-25T17:10:01-04:00It’s depressingly common for members of Congress to serve while facing criminal charges
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<img alt="Senate Lawmakers Speak To Press After Weekly Policy Luncheons" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/uNFvPloN_VdDYzV5a2iU0T3HWiA=/0x0:3000x2250/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54953569/683864482.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>More than two years ago, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was indicted on federal corruption charges. I saw him at two press conferences on Capitol Hill this week. He’s still a Senator. | Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="TRnyia">House Speaker Paul Ryan didn’t mince words. If Republican candidate Greg Gianforte wins his special election in Montana on Thursday, Gianforte will take his seat in the House of Representatives — even as he faces criminal charges for allegedly assaulting a reporter.</p>
<p id="pFIVzG">“Physical altercations — there’s never a call for physical altercation. There’s no time a physical altercation should occur with the press. So that should not have happened,” Ryan said.</p>
<p id="zmI7gq">On Wednesday night, the day before his election against Democrat Rob Quist, Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs accused Gianforte of body-slamming him at a volunteer barbecue. Audio and eyewitness accounts quickly emerged to support Jacobs’s story. Gianforte was charged with a misdemeanor late Wednesday night.</p>
<p id="hKXAem">But Ryan said he wouldn’t take any action to force Gianforte out of the House. “The people of Montana are going to decide today who they want to send to Congress. If he wins, he’s been chosen by the people of Montana. ... I’m going to let the people of Montana decide who they want as their representative.”</p>
<p id="5bmLl6">House Republicans seemed to think Ryan was doing the right thing. “We’ll take it a step at a time and see what the voters say first,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX). “It’s always a mistake to answer a hypothetical question. We’ll see what the voters say first and then decide.”</p>
<p id="fWruDP">Even some Democrats agreed with Ryan’s statement. “Voters are going to make the decision,” said Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) in an interview. “I think you have to respect the decision of the voters and the election process of the district. If he’s convicted — well, I haven’t thought that far ahead.”</p>
<h3 id="LmKnOB">What normally happens when members of Congress are charged with crimes</h3>
<p id="gSXpC4">Democrats may be up in arms over the idea that Gianforte can serve in the nation’s lower chamber amid criminal charges. But it would actually be a break from precedent if the criminal charge <em>blocked</em> his path to the House. </p>
<p id="jLMrQZ">For instance, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was indicted more than two years ago on multiple felony corruption charges. Prosecutors said he took more than $1 million in donations in order to help a Florida ophthalmologist get visas for three of the ophthalmologist’s girlfriends.</p>
<p id="EU7HGy">The New York Times’s editorial board <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/opinion/step-down-senator-robert-menendez.html">called</a> for Menendez to step down. Conservatives were <a href="https://origin-www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2013/02/05/media_takes_orders_from_senator_menendez_on_how_they_should_cover_his_sex_scandal/">outraged</a>. Democrats were slow to defend <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/democratic-senators-reserve-judgment-on-robert-menendez-115920">the embattled senator</a>.</p>
<p id="Z8k6IE">But Menendez decided that he instead wanted to remain a senator. And so, as the case continues to wind its way through the courts, he has. He’s still a regular appearance on the Senate floor, at press conferences, and all around Capitol Hill.</p>
<p id="0CreEQ">Plenty of other examples abound. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-PA) was indicted on federal racketeering charges in July 2015 and continued to serve for more than a year. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) was indicted in July 2008 on seven counts of failing to properly report gifts, and served for more than five additional months. (The Washington Post has a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/29/more-than-two-dozen-members-of-congress-have-been-indicted-since-1980/?utm_term=.57c0bb947254">thorough rundown from 2015 here</a>.)</p>
<p id="ReUCim">One problem for House and Senate leadership is that removing a sitting member is a difficult process that requires removal proceedings. It’s very rarely used.</p>
<p id="v1Q7mz">“There’s no formal process to remove a member. You can be charged and convicted of a crime, and even if you’re in prison you can still serve,” said Josh Huder, a congressional scholar at Georgetown’s Government Affairs Institute, adding that dozens of members have clung to their seats while facing criminal charges.</p>
<h3 id="AcXtYa">What Paul Ryan might do</h3>
<p id="9tAukt">But even as Ryan promises to uphold Montana’s wishes and seat Gianforte, there are other ways Republican House membership could respond to the high-profile assault.</p>
<p id="8SsfYb">“If [Gianforte] is elected, they’re going to want to hide him. So [the assault] probably harms the chances of him getting a really good committee assignment,” said Michele Swers, a congressional expert at American University. “He almost certainly won’t get as prominent a committee assignment as he would have otherwise.”</p>
<p id="8U64PJ">A felony conviction normally does trigger a resignation — as when Rep. Fattah was found guilty in federal court in June 2016 on racketeering and fraud charges.</p>
<p id="Ute0Vn">Even then, rather than go through with impeachment, the parties’ leaders exert pressure from behind the scenes to force a resignation. This is what reportedly happened with Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY), who threatened a reporter on camera while facing tax evasion charges. Then-Speaker John Boehner privately asked him to resign. </p>
<p id="etqTIa">“You can prevent him from being part of the caucus; they can ostracize him. But there’s no formal mechanism to remove him from office outside of impeachment,” Huder said.</p>
<p id="hN0QcS"><strong>Correction:</strong> A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Sen. Menendez was forced to relinquish his post on the foreign relations committee because of federal charges.</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15693042/congress-criminals-gianforteJeff Stein2017-05-25T13:30:01-04:002017-05-25T13:30:01-04:00The Gianforte “bodyslam” showed how deeply Americans are divided about the media
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<img alt="GOP Candidate In Montana's Special Congressional Election Greg Gianforte Campaigns In Missoula" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/HlqStkiL2HXxFwmkKD2EavwA6zk=/0x21:3000x2271/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54948845/687969650.0.jpg" />
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<p>Conservatives are surprisingly chill about a literal assault on the free press.</p> <p id="83ZEW1">At a gathering last week in Hamilton, Montana, a man <a href="http://missoulian.com/opinion/editorial/missoulian-editorial-gianforte-we-re-not-the-enemy/article_33b47f7c-112d-50eb-8cf0-ea27972cce0d.html">told Republican House candidate Greg Gianforte</a> that “our biggest enemy is the news media” and asked him how he would rein in reporters. Gianforte responded with an ominous — and foreshadowing — joke. </p>
<p id="vNAPyT">He pointed to a reporter in the crowd and said, “It seems like there is more of us than there is of him.” </p>
<p id="0dE6na">Gianforte later apologized for the comment, but the threat was clear. On Wednesday night, the eve of Montana’s special House election, Gianforte allegedly took a step further: body slamming Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs, who had been asking him about health care. Authorities charged Gianforte with misdemeanor assault — but he still could easily win tonight’s vote.</p>
<p id="7BCACJ">Both parts of that story are a growing feature in American politics, particularly on the right. Reporters are increasingly facing threats and violence in covering politicians. And many voters, particularly conservatives, do not seem troubled by that.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Stopped for gas & snacks en route to Bozeman and told a clerk about Gianforte allegations. Her response: "my kind of politician."</p>— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) <a href="https://twitter.com/GarrettHaake/status/867571241523200000">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">MT GOP voter to me just now, knowing I work for <a href="https://twitter.com/CNN">@CNN</a>: "That audio made me cheer." She smiled as she walked in to vote for Gianforte.</p>— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) <a href="https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/867770692313460736">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Gianforte attack has made talk radio more surreal than usual. Rush caller: "I'm all for what Gianforte did to that pajama boy."</p>— Will Sommer (@willsommer) <a href="https://twitter.com/willsommer/status/867786300233060353">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p id="Qg4Wvt">Anti-media rhetoric has abounded since the election, when Donald Trump rallied his supporters against journalists, calling major news outlets the “Enemy of the American People.” This bitter climate has led to a flurry of physical hostility toward reporters in recent months. </p>
<p id="MVCm9K">In West Virginia last month, Dan Heyman of Public News Service was handcuffed and arrested at the state capitol building <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/business/media/reporter-arrested-tom-price.html">for posing questions to Tom Price</a>, the secretary of Health and Human Services. And in Washington last week, a reporter from CQ Roll Call was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/fcc-security-reporter.html?_r=0">pushed against a wall</a> by security guards for asking an FCC commissioner questions in the lobby of a public building. </p>
<p id="LYMX7Z">On Wednesday night, Gianforte felt comfortable enough attacking Jacobs that he did so just a few feet away from a Fox News television crew, which was in the room preparing to interview him.</p>
<p id="rdioPO">Gianforte grabbed Jacobs “by the neck, both hands, slid him to the side, body slammed him, and then got on top of him and started punching and yelling at him,” Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna <a href="https://twitter.com/TomNamako/status/867737914045861889">said</a> on television Thursday morning. </p>
<p id="lbu4p0">According to Acuna, who was standing “about 2 feet” away from the incident, Jacobs had come in to ask a question about the Republican health care bill when Gianforte attacked him, breaking his glasses and punching him repeatedly. </p>
<p id="e83Ram">“As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, ‘I'm sick and tired of this!’” Acuna <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html">reported</a> in her story on FoxNews.com.</p>
<p id="X7RCct">The result: A trip to the emergency room for Jacobs, who needed X-rays — and a misdemeanor charge for Gianforte. </p>
<p id="0GB49C">In a bygone era, any such assault — much less an assault on a reporter — would have been political suicide. And indeed, Montana’s top three newspapers promptly rescinded their endorsements of Gianforte. But among much of the right, the response has been a yawn. </p>
<p id="dwbksn">When MSNBC asked if Gianforte would still be welcomed by Republicans in Congress, Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania <a href="https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/867749083875880960">replied</a>, after a pause: “Yes, of course.” </p>
<p id="v84rZk">House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an apology, but did not ask Gianforte to resign the race. “I'm going to let the people of Montana decide who they want as their representative,” he said at a press conference Thursday morning. </p>
<p id="op1dhR">Several politicians suggested that Gianforte may have even been justified in attacking a reporter. “It’s not appropriate behavior. Unless the reporter deserved it,” Republican California Rep. Duncan Hunter <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article152546874.html">told the AP</a>.</p>
<p id="ukUnlj">“The left has precipitated this tense confrontational approach throughout the country in recent months,” Republican Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona said to MSNBC Thursday morning. </p>
<p id="S3qjNI">Gianforte’s own statement, drafted by press secretary Shane Scanlon, cited “aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist.” (Eyewitness accounts said Jacob had been dogged, but hardly aggressive.) The implication was that, by being part of the so-called liberal mainstream media, Jacobs had indeed deserved his pummeling.</p>
<p id="0HHZW6">It’s tempting to blame Trump for those responses — for normalizing threats toward reporters — but it’s better to blame voters. Politicians, ultimately, are accountable to their constituents, and Gianforte’s mostly-conservative constituents do not seem to like the press much either. Trump, you’ll recall, paid no price in the GOP primaries after his then-campaign manager <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/inside-trumps-inner-circle-his-staffers-are-willing-to-fight-for-him-literally/2016/03/10/4b2b18e8-e660-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html?utm_term=.1456db7ab660">bruised a Breitbart reporter</a> who was trying to ask Trump a question. </p>
<p id="3PupRs">On one hand, Gianforte’s alleged violence was a violation of all kind of American norms — of civility, of respect for the press, and of basic human decency. </p>
<p id="QbYaXG">On the other hand, it seemed to be very on-brand. </p>
<p id="ZjYfP0">Nothing illustrates this better than Gianforte’s actions in the immediate wake of his alleged attack on Jacobs. He apologized — not to Jacobs, but to the journalists from Fox News.</p>
https://www.vox.com/2017/5/25/15691988/political-reporters-under-attack-conservative-voters-greg-gianforte-ben-jacobsJeff Guo2017-05-25T13:20:02-04:002017-05-25T13:20:02-04:00If Greg Gianforte makes it to Congress, the questions will only get tougher
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<img alt="GOP Congressional Candidate Greg Gianforte Campaigns In Great Falls, MT" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/71kUS3azLPpWYFctJkb--Q3P5is=/7x0:3000x2245/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54948507/687330488.0.jpg" />
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<p id="6RY3Gz">A Republican congressional candidate in Montana allegedly assaulted a reporter after being asked a question. As a reporter who asks congressmen and women questions every day, if elected, I can say Capitol Hill is going to be a rude awakening for Greg Gianforte. </p>
<p id="9HkcVc">I have sprinted down corridors with Rep. Mark Meadows — an architect of the health bill — and waited outside a bathroom for Rep. Trey Gowdy, who will likely be the next chair of the House Oversight committee. I’ve followed Sen. Joe Manchin into his car to see what a bipartisan health care working group has been cooking up. That’s the usual on Capitol Hill.</p>
<p id="lJkG0d">Members of Congress are supposed to be questioned by design. Whether by reporters or their constituents, they are elected officials who answer to the public.</p>
<p id="qfLzAM">That’s why they have town hall meetings in their home districts, and that’s why they talk to the press.</p>
<p id="VBI2AF">It’s not because it’s a nice thing to do, or that they like it. As someone who is tasked with asking Congress members questions, I can attest that on more than one occasion lawmakers have exhaled a sigh of relief when they make it past a line of reporters without being addressed. </p>
<p id="oT4OMN">At the end of the day, these representatives are accountable to the people, and the press is instrumental in holding those members accountable. Take it from Rep. Al Green of Texas: He thanks reporters almost every time he walks past us on his way to the House floor. </p>
<p id="gmIwzi">So when Gianforte — the Montana congressional candidate who is running for election today — allegedly body slammed a reporter for asking a relatively innocuous question on the effects of the health care bill, he should know that if he wins, he won’t be able to escape this.</p>
<p id="lT39oD">Trust me, I’m part of hordes of reporters doing the asking.</p>
<h3 id="23VADi">The questions get a lot harder than “what do you think of CBO” </h3>
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<img alt="Members Of House Freedom Caucus Brief Media On American Health Care Act Vote" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/04R7wWzRIRSq10T4N99mrSTWnm0=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8578499/656985066.jpg">
<cite>Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images</cite>
<figcaption>I was in this scrum. It was miserable.</figcaption>
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<p id="03ni8m">The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs asked Gianforte what he thought about new numbers from the Congressional Budget Office on the House’s health care bill — a report that seemed to look bad for the party that passed it, projecting 23 million would lose insurance in 10 years and protections for patients with preexisting conditions could vanish. And then Gianforte physically assaulted him. </p>
<p id="Z8mmxG">But over the course of the past two months, having to answer a simple, “What do you think of the CBO?” question is far from the most stressful position lawmakers have been in.</p>
<p id="DVYvk1">As Trump has gotten more politically toxic, dogged by scandals surrounding the firing of FBI Director James Comey and reportedly revealing highly classified intelligence to Russian officials, Republicans increasingly have had to answer for him. On legislative priorities like health care and tax reform, Republican lawmakers are having to defend policy that remains incredibly unpopular with the public. </p>
<p id="L044av">Throughout all of it, hundreds of reporters have crammed into narrow hallways, or by the trams underneath the Capitol building, or at the foot of staircases, staking out members of Congress on the move.</p>
<p id="xNWuaU">There are so many reporters doing this nowadays that the Senate Press Gallery sent out a letter saying, “collectively, the press following Senators has become large and aggressive,” warning that Capitol officials may be more vigorous with their crowd control. </p>
<p id="1N171z">And all this reporting is to ask lawmakers the questions they sometimes don’t want to answer, or have avoided in their press statements — to get their real-time reactions before their communications directors have time to feed them the politically appropriate lines. </p>
<p id="YXGiLg">Make no mistake, the questions aren’t going to get any easier, as one Politico reporter promised:</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">If Greg Gianforte is elected to Congress, I look forward to repeatedly asking him about the CBO score of the GOP health bill.</p>— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) <a href="https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/867584821207461888">May 25, 2017</a>
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<h3 id="dS9aRi">Believe it or not, Congress is one of the few places where civility is key</h3>
<p id="rMAo37">Congress has a way of doing things. </p>
<p id="yjr10N">In the House of Representatives Ethics Manual there is a rule requiring all members to conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.” That rule applies to how members work with the press. If Gianforte is elected, he’d essentially have violated those guidelines before he got there. </p>
<p id="Jvczl2">There’s precedence here. </p>
<p id="6VNMox">When former Rep. Michael Grimm threatened to kill a reporter for trying to ask about a scandal involving tax fraud, saying on camera, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/nyregion/rep-michael-grimm-threat-ny1-reporter.html?_r=0">“I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”</a> He apologized, but Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog organization filed a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics citing the House rule.</p>
<p id="MJJ0NP">“When a member of Congress abuses the privileges of his position, it is incumbent on the House to clearly and quickly reprove such conduct,” the complaint reads. “Many Americans already believe members of Congress are arrogant and not bound by the rules applied to everyone else. … The OCE should therefore commence an immediate investigation into Rep. Grimm’s behavior and forward this matter to the House Ethics Committee,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said, according to a 2014 report from <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/196855-crew-files-ethics-complaint-against-grimm-for-misconduct">the Hill</a>.</p>
<p id="evyLTP">Then-Speaker John Boehner reportedly <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/michael-grimm-reportedly-decided-resign-congress-article-1.2060152">asked Grimm to resign</a> after he had pleaded guilty to tax evasion, and he left Congress in disgrace. </p>
<p id="S7DZW0">If elected, House Speaker Paul Ryan has told reporters that Gianforte would still be seated in Congress, saying that is what Montanans wanted. But he added that the Montana congressional candidate should apologize.</p>
<p id="O3pMVD">Gianforte has yet to apologize — but if he wins, he’ll face some questions about his conduct that are much tougher than the CBO score. </p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15689926/greg-gianforte-congress-questions-tougherTara Golshan2017-05-25T12:10:02-04:002017-05-25T12:10:02-04:00Why the GOP candidate who “body-slammed” a reporter might still win a House seat
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<p>The ballots are in the mail.</p> <p id="dz9AhV">You might think that the moment Greg Gianforte, the Republican running for Montana’s open House seat, allegedly <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/24/15688542/montana-republican-candidate-body-slammed-reporter">“body-slammed”</a> a reporter, his campaign was doomed. An alleged assault the day before an election? What could be worse?</p>
<p id="kpt6A5">But Gianforte could very well still be elected to Congress, even as he faces misdemeanor charges for the alleged assault. If he prevails in Thursday night’s election, he can thank Montana’s affinity for mail-in ballots.</p>
<p id="MtmJIQ">Gianforte has been considered the slight favorite in his race against Democratic folk singer Rob Quist — Cook Political Report has the race <a href="http://cookpolitical.com/house/charts/race-ratings">rated</a> as Lean Republican. But he came with some baggage: a non-native multimillionaire squaring off against the local populist and celebrity. Some anti-Trump, anti-Republican health care bill backlash was a further complication for the GOP candidate.</p>
<p id="YxEVAF">Then he allegedly assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs on Wednesday night and local authorities <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/24/15685362/montanas-special-election-assault">charged him</a> with misdemeanor assault — the day before the election. Democrats were quickly up with a digital ad airing audio of the incident.</p>
<div id="xG2U50"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.2493%;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D5y1NrpSGmA?rel=0&amp;controls=2" style="border: 0; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;" allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no"></iframe></div></div>
<p id="nPJNa9">The race was close going in — but the political silver lining for Gianforte is that many Montana voters, maybe most them, had already voted by the time he was charged.</p>
<p id="Xpt56w">Montana is unusually reliant on mail-in ballots — any voter may request and cast an absentee ballot. The state legislature earlier this year <a href="http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/story/35027578/special-election-will-not-include-mail-in-ballots">debated</a> transitioning to a fully mail-based system for the special election, though that effort fell short.</p>
<p id="vkltys">Seasoned political analysts projected that two-thirds or more of the votes had already been cast by the time the news of Gianforte’s alleged assault broke.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Montana:<br>357,597 absentee ballots sent (as of 16:37 Weds)<br>259,312 received<br><br>367,963 voted in 2014 midterm House race<a href="https://t.co/jr2szRfhK2">https://t.co/jr2szRfhK2</a></p>— Greg Giroux (@greggiroux) <a href="https://twitter.com/greggiroux/status/867695328841125888">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is why many, including myself, have been saying that likely about 2/3rds of the vote is in - we're comparing early vote to 2014 vote <a href="https://t.co/lcHORM1NP2">https://t.co/lcHORM1NP2</a></p>— Kyle Kondik (@kkondik) <a href="https://twitter.com/kkondik/status/867696785547862017">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p id="dvnZPN">The Billings Gazette <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/nearly-k-absentee-ballots-returned-ahead-of-special-election/article_2a03e916-365f-5ff4-91bf-3be927dc5bf9.html">reported</a> Wednesday that about 47 percent of absentee ballots in Yellowstone County, the most populous county in the state, had already been returned.</p>
<p id="slqRNm">If there is a problem for Gianforte, it’s this point made by the New York Times’s Nate Cohn: The alleged assault could motivate voters who were less likely to vote to get to the polls on Thursday and make sure he doesn’t get the seat. </p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Yes, 2/3 of the MT early vote is in<br>But, generally, less partisan/less regular (persuadable?) voters likelier to vt on EDAY<br>And 1/3 is a lot</p>— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nate_Cohn/status/867543249673748481">May 25, 2017</a>
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https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15691290/montana-special-election-gop-candidate-body-slam-mail-in-ballotsDylan Scott2017-05-25T09:10:02-04:002017-05-25T09:10:02-04:00Let's deconstruct Greg Gianforte's unbelievable defense of assaulting a reporter
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<img alt="GOP Candidate In Montana's Special Congressional Election Greg Gianforte Campaigns In Missoula" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MkWFs9NaV88CP0TWP9nCnMapWp4=/0x26:3000x2276/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54943193/687778656.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p id="sy2GQV">Shortly after he was publicly accused of assaulting a reporter Wednesday night, House candidate Greg Gianforte (R-MT) put out a statement that portrayed himself as the victim of the altercation.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full statement from Greg Gianforte campaign about alleged assault on <a href="https://twitter.com/guardian">@Guardian</a> reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs">@Bencjacobs</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bdcnews?src=hash">#bdcnews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mtal?src=hash">#mtal</a> <a href="https://t.co/AQxkJ3uVXX">pic.twitter.com/AQxkJ3uVXX</a></p>— Whitney Bermes (@wabermes) <a href="https://twitter.com/wabermes/status/867541538460585984">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p id="NRog4z">Shane Scanlon, Gianforte’s spokesperson, made a number of specific factual assertions. One was that the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs was had “aggressively shoved” a tape recorder in Gianforte’s face. Another was that Jacobs had asked “badgering questions,” and that Jacobs (a “liberal journalist”) made first contact in the incident by grabbing Gianforte’s wrist. After grabbing Gianforte’s wrist, the statement continued, Jacobs “spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground.” This “aggressive behavior,” the statement said, “created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”</p>
<p id="i236Mc">It’s worth deconstructing not just how much this clashes with several other eye-witness accounts, but also what such brazen elision of the truth says about the candidate running for Congress. </p>
<p id="xhypzd">Gianforte was charged with <a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/25/15689802/montana-special-bodyslam-election">misdemeanor assault</a> by Montana law enforcement and is scheduled to appear in court before June 7. On Thursday, voters will head to pick between him and Democrat Rob Quist. A loss would be Gianforte’s second in a short few months; in November 2016, he lost a governor’s race against Democrat Steve Bullock.</p>
<p id="nIj04N">Gianforte’s statement implies that Jacobs bears responsibility for setting off the physical altercation. Audio of the incident posted by the Guardian leaves no doubt that Gianforte lost his composure in the moments preceding it. It also makes clear that Jacobs was asking his questions politely.</p>
<p id="iXn8KY">“I’m sick and tired of you guys!” Gianforte can be heard as saying before the sound of a loud crash. “The last time you came here you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here.”</p>
<p id="dN9Gfo">More importantly, several Fox News reporters who had been <em>in the room</em> during the time of the assault later released their full account of the incident. This excerpt from Fox News's Alicia Acuna is worth <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html">reading</a> (emphasis added):</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="GRB8N8">…[Jacobs] walked into the room with a voice recorder, put it up to Gianforte's face and began asking if he had a response to the newly released Congressional Budget Office report on the American Health Care Act. Gianforte told him he would get to him later. Jacobs persisted with his question. Gianforte told him to talk to his press guy, Shane Scanlon. </p>
<p id="xGSovo">At that point, <strong>Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him</strong>. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then <strong>began punching the reporter</strong>. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, "I'm sick and tired of this!" ...</p>
<p id="LpymPO">To be clear, <strong>at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte</strong>, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies. </p>
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<p id="uDMi2p">It’s worth pausing to highlight the massive disparities between the Fox News account and Gianforte’s.</p>
<p id="Dot2Fo">Gianforte’s timeline pegs the incident as escalating when Jacobs grabbed his wrist. Three neutral third-party observers agreed that the incident was, in fact, set off when Gianforte “grabbed Jacobs by the neck.” </p>
<p id="nw5ZJs">Gianforte blamed the incident on Jacobs’s overly aggressive questioning. The Fox reporters state without equivocation that “at no point did any of us … see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression” toward Gianforte.</p>
<p id="VpMZKR">Gianforte did not admit to engaging in any violence. Three reporters — not to mention Jacobs himself — say that Gianforte “moved on top of Jacobs” and “began punching the reporter.”</p>
<p id="d64Ds0">Presumably, either Gianforte or someone on his staff had a good chance of knowing that there had been other people in the room who had witnessed what had occurred. </p>
<p id="vymDLL">If they didn’t, then that suggests they gambled on dissembling the truth in the hope that nobody besides Jacobs could contradict them. If they <em>did</em> know there were other observers in the room, then Gianforte likely concluded that having wildly contradictory accounts of the assault was a risk worth running — perhaps with the hope that his supporters would believe him, rather than the story of him pummeling a reporter for no apparent reason, in the final day of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15691658/montana-special-election-gianforte-quist">Montana’s nationally watched special election</a>.</p>
<p id="iGCJFA">“Nothing in the campaign statement is accurate except my name and my employer,” Jacobs said in a text message to a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/gop-candidate-cited-for-assault-as-newspapers-pull-endorsements/2017/05/25/eb416990-413b-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html?utm_term=.15a9dabe34b4">Washington Post reporter</a>.</p>
<p id="vScq5r">This isn’t a case of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashomon_effect">Rashomon effect</a>. This is the case of a candidate, fighting for political survival and looking to stave off his second humiliating defeat in under a year, trying to reinvent reality. Gianforte has run a race closely hugging President Donald Trump, and it’s not hard to see why.</p>
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15689924/greg-gianforte-defense-assaultJeff Stein2017-05-25T07:21:10-04:002017-05-25T07:21:10-04:00Republican House candidate charged with misdemeanor assault day before election
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<img alt="GOP Congressional Candidate Greg Gianforte Campaigns In Great Falls, MT" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JVNQavtFvhVjI5mIbiSYvzOtwlQ=/0x66:3000x2316/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/54942223/687332186.0.jpg" />
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<p id="OAmI9z">Republican House candidate Greg Gianforte has been charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly body slamming a reporter on the eve of <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15691658/montana-special-election-gianforte-quist">Montana’s closely watched special election.</a></p>
<p id="J5zXxG">Gianforte was accused of attacking Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs at a local campaign barbecue over questions about the Republicans’ House health care bill, breaking his glasses and forcing him to go to the hospital to have his elbow X-rayed, according to multiple reports.</p>
<p id="3vcOde">With hours until the end of a months-long campaign, law enforcement told Gianforte that he would be scheduled to appear in Gallatin County Justice Court between now and June 7.</p>
<p id="KxBWwa">The Guardian later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/24/greg-gianforte-bodyslams-reporter-ben-jacobs-montana?CMP=edit_2221">posted</a> audio of the incident, in which Jacobs appears to calmly ask Gianforte about <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15685760/ahca-cbo-score-new">the new Congressional Budget Office score</a> of the American Health Care Act, passed by the House on May 4. Several reporters from Fox News who had been in the room then published a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html">first-person account</a> that seemed to contradict Gianforte’s story:</p>
<blockquote>
<p id="OVsVnz">Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of "I'm sick and tired of this!"</p>
<p id="C44Dq5">Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. He asked Faith, Keith and myself for our names. In shock, we did not answer. He then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.</p>
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<p id="JXk2bA">A few hours later, at around 10 pm Western, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office <a href="https://www.gallatinmedia.org/?p=4732">announced</a> that a criminal summons on the misdemeanor count had been issued to Gianforte. They also said that the “nature of the injuries” did not rise to felony charges. </p>
<p id="J6l3NF">In the statement, Galltin Sheriff Brian M. Gootkin acknowledged that he’d contributed $250 to Gianforte’s campaign. “After the press conference it was brought to my attention that people were commenting on a contribution that I made to the Gianforte campaign,” the sheriff’s statement said. “This contribution has nothing to do with our investigation which is now complete.”</p>
<p id="YPLab3">The sheriff’s statement appeared to contradict one released by the candidate himself Wednesday night in which Gianforte accused Jacobs of the attack. Gianforte’s campaign alleged that the “liberal journalist” had “grabbed Greg’s wrist” before “pushing them both to the ground.” </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full statement from Greg Gianforte campaign about alleged assault on <a href="https://twitter.com/guardian">@Guardian</a> reporter <a href="https://twitter.com/Bencjacobs">@Bencjacobs</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bdcnews?src=hash">#bdcnews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mtal?src=hash">#mtal</a> <a href="https://t.co/AQxkJ3uVXX">pic.twitter.com/AQxkJ3uVXX</a></p>— Whitney Bermes (@wabermes) <a href="https://twitter.com/wabermes/status/867541538460585984">May 25, 2017</a>
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<p id="klKrKu">To make a horrible situation even worse for Gianforte: Three of Montana’s most prominent newspapers all withdrew their endorsements for him after the assault. He had <a href="https://twitter.com/chrisdonovan/status/867619343567290368">touted all three</a> on the campaign trail in his final push against banjo-playing Democrat Rob Quist earlier that day.</p>
<p id="i8mO33">It may not matter. Gianforte was leading by at least 6 points heading into Election Day, at least according to one <a href="http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/quist-gianforte-montana-poll">poll</a>, and nearly two-third of ballots had already been cast because of the state’s early voting rules.</p>
<h3 id="JFPhUq">Read more</h3>
<ul>
<li id="1dBvI2"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2017/5/24/15685362/montanas-special-election-assault">Montana’s special election — with a wild, 11th-hour twist — explained</a></li>
<li id="gF8Kwr"><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/24/15688624/montana-special-election-bodyslam-ahca">Behind the Montana special election “body slam” story is an important point about the AHCA</a></li>
<li id="RTOyPv">The New York Times’s Jonathan Martin <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/24/us/politics/greg-gianforte-montana-republican-body-slams-reporter.html">interviewed</a> Jacobs late last night from the hospital</li>
<li id="BWbvvj">A <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/4/19/15353028/trump-special-elections-georgia-ossoff">piece</a> by Vox’s Andrew Prokop this April about the early lessons from the special elections.</li>
</ul>
https://www.vox.com/2017/5/25/15689802/montana-special-bodyslam-electionJeff Stein