The pajama boy reporter got more than he bargained for by interrupting an ongoing interview with another reporter.
Via KRTV:
U.S. Rep.-elect Greg Gianforte got a six-month deferred sentence Monday and a $300 fine for assaulting a reporter on the eve of his election last month – and, in court, turned to personally apologize to the reporter, Ben Jacobs of the Guardian.
Gallatin County Justice of the Peace Rick West also ordered Gianforte to perform 40 hours of community service and do a 20-hour anger-management class, after calling his conduct “completely unacceptable.”
Gianforte spoke to reporters briefly after the 45-minute hearing, saying he’s taken responsibility for his actions on May 24 and is ready to “move forward” with the job of representing Montana.
“People who’ve worked with me, know me; this was not a proud moment,” he said. “But I’m ready to move on. … I think the most important thing is, I’ve been elected by the people of Montana to serve and be a strong voice back in Washington, D.C., and I intend to do that.”
Flanked by his two attorneys, Gianforte appeared in the small, basement courtroom early Monday morning and pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for attacking Jacobs.
The reporter for the British publication had been covering Montana’s special congressional race among Republican Gianforte, Democrat Rob Quist and Libertarian Mark Wicks.
Gianforte, 56, a software entrepreneur from Bozeman, won the May 25 election with a shade over 50 percent of the vote. Quist had 44 percent and Wicks 6 percent. Gianforte will succeed Republican Ryan Zinke, who resigned the seat March 1 to become U.S. Interior secretary.
When questioned by the judge about the assault, Gianforte said he had grabbed Jacobs’ wrist, that a “scuffle ensued” and the two men “fell to the floor and I understand his elbow was injured.”
Yet Jacobs, who flew to Bozeman from Washington, D.C., for the hearing, provided more details and a different version from the witness stand on Monday.
He said Gianforte slammed him to the floor and started punching him, when Jacobs tried to question the candidate about the Republican health bill before Congress.
Jacobs said Gianforte then “lied in a defamatory public statement which he insisted this unprovoked physical attack was somehow my fault.”
In a statement issued shortly after the altercation, the Gianforte campaign said “aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”
Jacobs said Monday that he was just “doing my job” when Gianforte attacked him, injuring his elbow and breaking his glasses, and “thrusting me into a national spotlight I did not seek.”
But he also said he had accepted Gianforte’s written apology, made last week, and the candidate’s statements in support of a free press.
“I fully expect his thoughtful words to be followed by concrete actions once he’s taken his seat in Congress,” Jacobs said. “I’m confident he will be a strong advocate for a free press and the First Amendment. … I hope to even finally interview him once he’s arrived on Capitol Hill.”