BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) \u2014 Montana’s Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a misconduct case against the state’s attorney general after he defied court orders in a dispute over a law that gave the governor more power over the judiciary.<\/p>\n
A court-appointed panel last year found that Attorney General Austin Knudsen repeatedly attacked the integrity of the justices in his defense of a 2021 law permitting the state’s Republican governor to directly fill judicial vacancies. The panel had recommended that his license to practice law be suspended for 90 days.<\/p>\n
Justices ruled Wednesday that Knudsen had violated rules of conduct for attorneys but said the panel violated his due process rights by excluding his expert witness from the case.<\/p>\n
Knudsen had urged the high court to dismiss the case against him. He said in a statement Wednesday that the compliant against had been a distraction during his time in office.<\/p>\n
“I appreciate the Supreme Court bringing this frivolous complaint to a long-overdue conclusion,” Knudsen said. “We’ve said it from the very beginning, this was nothing more than a political stunt.”<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Cory Swanson wrote that Wednesday’s order amounted to a “public admonition” over Knudsen’s misconduct. Swanson also said the extensive litigation in the case was “far worse” than a private admonition that had been previously considered in his case.<\/p>\n
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