June 12, 2017

A Judge Just Sentenced the Millionaire Montana Politician Who Beat Up a Reporter

”I understand Ben was injured.”

Gianforte pleaded guilty on Monday to assaulting a reporter.Rachel Leathe/Bozeman Daily Chronicle/AP

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A Montana judge on Monday sentenced millionaire Republican Congressman-elect Greg Gianforte to community service and counseling after Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. Gianforte attacked Ben Jacobs, a reporter with the Guardian, last month on the eve of a closely watched special election after Jacobs attempted to question him about the controversial Obamacare repeal bill passed by House Republicans.

Gallatin County Judge Rick West initially considered sentencing Gianforte to four days in jail, but he eventually opted for 40 hours of community service and 20 hours of anger management counseling, along with a $385 fines and fees, according to accounts from inside the court.

Before the judge sentenced Gianforte, the congressman-elect pleaded guilty to the charge, saying, “Although it was not my intention to hurt him, I understand Ben was injured.”

Last week, Gianforte publicly apologized to Jacobs and committed to paying $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists in a civil settlement.

“I acknowledge that the media have an obligation to seek information,” Gianforte wrote to Jacobs. “I had no right to respond the way I did to your legitimate question about healthcare policy. You were doing your job.”

Jacobs responded to the apology in his testimony this morning, saying, “I fully expect his thoughtful words to be followed by concrete actions once he takes his seat in Congress.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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