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Watchdog Groups Promise FEC Complaints Over Rosendale-NRA Recording

Matthew Rosendale, Montana state auditor..
Eric Whitney
/
MTPR
Matthew Rosendale, Montana state auditor..

A pair of campaign watchdog groups says they’re filing complaints with federal authorities over  alleged illegal coordination between the NRA and the Republican candidate for Senate in Montana.

The Campaign Legal Center and former Arizona Representative Gabby Giffords’ political organization are asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate what Candidate Matt Rosendale says in a recording released this week by The Daily Beast.

In that 54 second clip, Rosedale tells an unidentified person that he’s aware of outside groups supporting his campaign, including the NRA Institute for Legislative Action.

The watchdog groups suggest his remarks show illegal campaign coordination.

Rosendale’s campaign says that’s false, and that the recording acknowledges nothing more than an NRA endorsement.

Rosendale is challenging Montana’s two-term Democratic Senator Jon Tester.

Copyright 2020 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio.

Eric Whitney is NPR's Mountain West/Great Plains Bureau Chief, and was the former news director for Montana Public Radio.