Helena, Mont. — Montana State Auditor and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance James Brown today issued the following statement after the Montana Supreme Court dismissed the complaint filed against Attorney General Austin Knudsen:
“Today’s decision by the Montana Supreme Court confirms what many Montanans recognized from the beginning: this process was not about enforcing the law but about advancing a politically motivated show trial against a duly elected Attorney General. The facts and the Constitution were never on the complainants’ side.
“Attorney General Knudsen acted squarely within his constitutional authority, and the Court’s dismissal reaffirms the foundational principle of separation of powers. Courts should never be used as venues for partisan vendettas, and these activist actions should not have been entertained in the first place.
“When legal processes are weaponized for political purposes, public trust in our institutions is damaged and the rule of law is weakened. That is why it is so important that today’s decision draws a clear line against judicial and political overreach.
“I congratulate Attorney General Austin Knudsen on this outcome and commend him for standing firm in defense of Montana’s Constitution. Elected officials must be free to carry out their lawful duties without fear of politically driven retaliation”.