Former GOP election chief back on the ballot

Former Secretary of State Brad Johnson is back on the June 5 primary ballot after a computer glitch threatened his candidacy for most of the day Wednesday.

Johnson, who is running in a four-way Republican primary to challenge current Secretary of State Linda McCulloch, failed to turn his D-1 business disclosure form to the Commissioner of Political Practices by the March 20, 5 p.m. deadline.

According to state law: "the name of a candidate may not be printed on the official ballot for an election if the candidate or treasurer for a candidate fails to file any statement or report as required by this chapter."

However, lawyer contracted by the commissioner's office later determined that the D-1 form in question was not specifically required under the statute.

"We had attorney look at the statute regarding certification, and because there was a question as to whether the D-1 fit under that requirement we went ahead and certified the four candidates who were missing the D-1 form," said Mary Baker, program supervisor for the Commissioner of Political Practices.

Baker had previously sent a letter to McCulloch Tuesday informing the secretary that nine candidates, including Johnson, failed to submit all the necessary paperwork to the commissioner's office and thus would be ineligible for the primary election ballot.

The Secretary of State's Office then removed Johnson and eight other candidates from the ballot.

Johnson maintained all along that he attempted to file the D-1 form through the CPP's online system and that he thought he had done so successfully. It wasn't until he was contacted by a reporter Wednesday that he realized the CPP office never received the form.

According to Johnson, an investigation by Commissioner of Political Practices Jim Murry and CPP investigator Julie Steab later confirmed that Johnson's computer and Internet browser appeared to be incompatible with the online software used by the commissioner's office.

"We walked through the process that I went through yesterday when I thought I had successfully filed the form," Johnson said. "Sure enough, the submit button at the bottom of the form flashes, there was no error message and no reason to believe it didn't go through properly."

A spokeswoman for Secretary of State Linda McCulloch confirmed that the commissioner's office sent a second letter after business hours Wednesday retracting the names of four candidates who had not filed the D-1 form.

Johnson, who spent much of Wednesday wondering whether his candidacy was in jeopardy, praised Murry and the staff in the commissioner's office for working to correct the snafu.

"The commissioner went out of his way to meet with me and then they were out at my house the same day and they were here working through the actual process I engaged in yesterday," Johnson said. "The commissioner made a very real good-faith effort to resolve this in an expedited matter."

Johnson said the incident highlights the fact that the commissioner's office is in need of additional funding and resources and tools to improve the online filing system.

"I'm not talking about commissioner or his staff's performance. They were great today and went out of their way to expedite this," Johnson said. "The Legislature needs to assign a much higher priority for staffing and funding for that office."

Former SOS fails to file required paperwork for June 2012 primary ballot

Former Republican Secretary of State Brad Johnson was removed from the June primary ballot after failing to submit required paperwork to the Commissioner of Political Practices.

Johnson was running for his old job as Secretary of State.

Johnson, who served one term as Secretary of State before losing to Democrat Linda McCulloch in 2008, failed to file a D-1 business disclosure form before the March 20, 5 p.m. deadline. He was set to compete in a four-way Republican primary but will now have to sit out the 2012 elections instead.

Commissioner of Political Practices program supervisor Mary Baker, who certifies to the Secretary of State that candidates have filed the necessary disclosure paperwork by the statutory deadline, said Johnson claimed to have sent it via email prior to the deadline but no records of the email could be found.

"He says he submitted it as a PDF form. We went through all the emails, all the folders, the trash folder and we can't find any record of it ever being received," Baker said.

Baker said Johnson stopped by the commissioner's office earlier in the day Wednesday and she told him that if he could find the sent receipt in his email program she would accept it as proof that he filed by the deadline. Baker said Johnson called her a few minutes after leaving the office and informed her that he could not find any record of sending the file.

Johnson was meeting with Commissioner of Political Practices Jim Murry Wednesday afternoon and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Cebull delivered a prophetic commencement address, warned grads about the perils of email

Embattled Montana Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull last year warned law school graduates about the perils of electronic communication.

Cebull, who last month made national headlines when the Tribune first reported the judge sent a racist, misogynistic email about President Barack Obama’s mom from his federal courthouse computer, is facing a judicial inquiry.  Leading Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have called for a congressional hearing into Cebull’s conduct, and nearly 3,000 people have signed the Montana Human Rights Network’s petition seeking Cebull’s resignation.

Perhaps if Cebull had heeded the advice he gave to law school graduates less than a year ago he wouldn’t be in this situation.

Cebull -- lamenting the “old days” when attorneys met face to face instead of sending hasty, angry emails -- told the 2011 graduating class at the University of Montana School of Law to think twice before clicking the send button on certain emails.

“In the old days I'd dictate a scathing letter to opposing counsel who deserved it, let it sit on my desk for a day or two. That was before I'd consider signing the letter or sending it off. Each time that occurred I never signed the letter and it was never sent.

Why? Because I had the opportunity to think about it.

In the present day, and I know this just from the volumes of emails that I receive in support of various motions, the lawyer sits at a computer, furiously types out an email, and then without thinking about it he moves the curser up to send, hits a button and off it goes.

What's wrong with that scenario? You didn't give yourself time to reflect on the comments and the statements you made in your email. Probably the biggest problem is you can't take it back.”

Not only can you not take it back, but as Cebull is now keenly aware, electronic communication can go viral in flash, and you can’t control how wide or how far it will spread.

Here’s the audio of the entire address. The warning about emails starts about 15:30.  

Right-wing blogger sues newly appointed Commissioner of Political Practices

A self-described advocate for “small and transparent government” filed a lawsuit against the newly appointed Commissioner of Political Practices seeking records related to the former commissioner's activities while in that office.

Edwin Berry, an atmospheric physicist and right-wing blogger from Bigfork, is asking the court to force political practices commissioner Jim Murry to turn over records related to former commissioner Dave Gallik’s alleged misconduct.

Gallik resigned in January after the staff in the office accused him of falsifying his state time sheet and doing private practice attorney work from his state office. Gallik denied the charges and said the commissioner’s fabricated the allegations to force him out because they didn't like his management style.

Matthew Monforton, Berry's Bozeman-based attorney, said his client filed the lawsuit because he has an interest in getting to the bottom of the allegations made against Gallik.

"If commissioner Gallik was performing or working on behalf of private clients and using state time and state resources to perform that work, that than would create very serious and perhaps criminal problems," Monforton said. "If the allegations are true that Mr. Gallik falsified time records, then that could potentially be theft of public funds."

The lawsuit asks the court to force Murry to turn over documents. Murry declined a public records request Berry made on Feb. 21 seeking records because of an ongoing ethics complaint Berry filed against Gallik last fall. Berry filed the complaint because Gallik was still listed as the treasurer for the Democratic Legislators Alumni Association political action committee while serving as commissioner.

Murry wrote in a Feb. 23 letter to Berry that because Berry's complaint was pending before a hearing examiner, Murry was unable to provide the document.

BREAKING: Conyers calls for Judiciary hearing on Cebull

The ranking Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are calling on committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, to hold a congressional hearing into the actions of Montana U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull.

Cebull, the chief judge for the District of Montana, last month sent a racist and misogynistic email about President Barak Obama's mother from his courthouse chambers using his official email address.

News of the incident sparked national outrage, with human rights and government watchdog groups circulating petitions demanding Cebull's resignation.

Cebull apologized to the president and asked the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals to review the incident, but many Democrats say Cebull, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001, should voluntarily resign.

In a letter to Smith Tuesday ranking judiciary committee member John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich., and Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., asked smith to allow the committee "to consider the full ramifications of Judge Cebull's conduct on integrity of the federal judiciary" and to consider whether  further action by the committee is warranted, "including further investigation or possible legislative action."

"At minimum, forwarding this e-mail illustrates poor judgment and of conduct that was unbecoming of a federal judge," the Democrats wrote. "The Committee has an obligation to consider the ramifications of the public disclosure of Judge Cebull's conduct, particularly as long as he remains on the bench."

Chief U.S. District Judge sends racially charged email about president

Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull on Wednesday admitted to sending a racially charged email about President Barack Obama from his courthouse chambers.

Cebull, of Billings, was nominated by former President George W. Bush and received his commission in 2001 and has served as chief judge for the District of Montana since 2008.

The subject line of the email, which Cebull sent from his official courthouse email address on Feb. 20 at 3:42 p.m., reads: "A MOM'S MEMORY."

The forwarded text reads as follow:

"Normally I don't send or forward a lot of these, but even by my standards, it was a bit touching. I want all of my friends to feel what I felt when I read this. Hope it touches your heart like it did mine.

"A little boy said to his mother; 'Mommy, how come I'm black and you're white?'" the email joke reads. "His mother replied, 'Don't even go there Barack! From what I can remember about that party, you're lucky you don't bark!'"

A photo accompanying the offensive e-mail

Cebull admitted Wednesday to sending the email to seven recipients, including his personal email address.

The judge acknowledged that the content of the email was racist, but said he does not consider himself racist. He said the email was intended to be a private communication.

"It was not intended by me in any way to become public," Cebull said. "I apologize to anybody who is offended by it, and I can obviously understand why people would be offended."

Cebull said his brother initially sent him the email, which he forwarded to six of his "old buddies" and acquaintances.

He admitted that he read the email and intended to send it to his friends.

"The only reason I can explain it to you is I am not a fan of our president, but this goes beyond not being a fan," Cebull said. "I didn't send it as racist, although that's what it is. I sent it out because it's anti-Obama."

Travis McAdam, executive director for the Montana Human Rights Network , said the email contained highly racist rhetoric unbecoming of a federal judge.

"It's one thing if the judge is not a fan of President Barack Obama, but you would think someone in his position would articulate that in a way that criticizes his policy decisions or his position on issues," McAdam said. "We have a hard time believing that a legitimate criticism of the president involves distributing a joke that basically compares African Americans with animals."

Cebull said he does not consider himself prejudice against people of other races or ethnic backgrounds, and that his actions in his courtroom have demonstrated that.

"I have never considered myself that way," Cebull said. "All I can emphasize is I've treated people in my courtroom all these years fairly. I don't think I've ever demonstrated racism. Nobody has ever even implied it."

Montana immigration attorney Shahid Haque-Hausrath was on the receiving end of a racially charged email sent by a top Immigrations and Customs Enforcement official last fall. That official was suspended after sending Haque-Hausrath an email implying that Muslim Americans must prove their allegiance to the United State.

Haque-Hausrath, who is in an interracial marriage and recently fathered a child with his wife, said Cebull's e-mail was "deeply troubling."

"Another federal official who is entrusted to do his duties fairly and impartially has yet again sent an email from his work account during work hours that espouses deeply racist and bigoted views," Haque-Hausrath said. "The reason why I think it's so troubling, is it espouses the deeply racist view that interracial sex is equivalent to bestiality. For a federal judge to be equating the two, and say since Barack Obama is of mixed racial background, that his mother was somehow committing acts of bestiality is incredibly racist and troubling.

One of the recipients of the email Cebull sent forwarded it to another person, who in turn forwarded it to another person. The email was eventually passed along to the Great Falls Tribune, who contacted Cebull. Cebull said he was surprised the recipients of the e-mail passed it along with his name on it.

"This is a private thing that was, to say the least, very poor judgment on my part," Cebull said. "I did not forward it because of the racist nature of it. Although it is racist, I'm not that way, never have been."