ASSOCIATED PRESS: Tim Sheehy Said His Opponent Ate “Lobbyist Steak.” But He Lobbied — With Steak
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
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Associated Press digs into Tim Sheehy’s extensive lobbying efforts to win exclusive government contracts for his failing company
Helena, MT – New reporting from the Associated Press revealed that Tim Sheehy lobbied Montana government officials in an effort to win lucrative, exclusive contracts for his company – including by taking them out to dinner at expensive steakhouses.
Emails obtained by AP show that Sheehy wined and dined an official in Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration and “press[ed] Montana officials to put money into establishing a statewide aerial firefighting force that stood to benefit his company.” Later, a “director at a think tank for which Sheehy was a board member also called on Montana to direct those contracts to private firefighting companies like Bridger Aerospace.”
As Associated Press reported: “The large contracts haven’t been enough to avoid financial troubles. Sheehy’s company — held up by his campaign as ‘a Montana success story’ — has suffered persistent losses, a declining stock price and allegations of mismanagement.”
Associated Press: This Montana Senate candidate said his opponent ate ‘lobbyist steak.’ But he lobbied—with steak
October 8, 2024
Matthew Brown
During an October debate, Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy took a shot at his Democratic opponent, Sen. Jon Tester, for “eating lobbyist steak” while the Republican fought in Afghanistan.
But Sheehy himself had a taste for red meat and lobbying, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. He combined the two in pursuit of government contracts that allowed his aerial firefighting company to rapidly expand over the past decade.
“I hope you enjoyed the steakhouse,” Sheehy wrote to Ryan Osmundson, the state Budget Director after a November 2021 meeting in Martinsdale, Montana.
Sheehy went on to describe his company’s aircraft as “ideal” for a dedicated, state-based fleet of planes to aggressively fight fires.
Sheehy’s career as a U.S. Navy SEAL ended in 2014. By 2021, as CEO of Belgrade-based Bridger Aerospace, he was pressing Montana officials to put money into establishing a statewide aerial firefighting force that stood to benefit his company.
In subsequent months, a lobbyist working on behalf of Sheehy kept making the case for a dedicated Montana firefighting fleet, records show. And Sheehy met and communicated with top state officials, urging them to create the fleet under exclusive contracts to ensure the aircraft would be available when needed.
A director at a think tank for which Sheehy was a board member also called on Montana to direct those contracts to private firefighting companies like Bridger Aerospace.
“Admittedly, Bridger stands to benefit from the creation of a Montana Fire Force,” Sheehy wrote in an email to Amanda Kaster, Director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
The agency’s contract with Bridger Aerospace calls for the company to receive $51,621 a day for each of its six “super scooper” planes made available for duty, plus $17,605 per hour of flight time. The planes scoop water from lakes or other bodies of water and dump it on wildfires from above.
By the spring of 2023, Kaster spoke in favor of legislation that sharply increased state spending on fighting wildfires. In July, a Billings aircraft company announced that it was awarded the first-ever exclusive-use aerial firefighting contract from Kaster’s agency.
Bridger Aerospace over the past decade secured contracts for work in at least nine states, the federal government and several Canadian provinces, according to the company.
The large contracts haven’t been enough to avoid financial troubles. Sheehy’s company — held up by his campaign as “a Montana success story” — has suffered persistent losses, a declining stock price and allegations of mismanagement.
Osmundson and Kaster did not respond to emails and telephone messages seeking comment.
The Sheehy campaign declined to make the candidate available for an interview or to directly answer questions about his lobbying.
Federal contracts made up 69% of Bridger Aerospace’s 2023 revenue, according to a company presentation. Lobbyists in Washington reported spending $450,000 since 2021 on its behalf.
Tester, Montana’s incumbent Democratic senator, brought up the Republican’s federal lobbying during the Sept. 30 debate in Missoula after Sheehy’s remark about “lobbyist steak.”
“Tim Sheehy set up his own lobbying firm in Washington, DC. Why? So he could try to influence elected officials, try to take them out and feed them those steaks he’s talking about,” Tester said.
Bridger Aerospace has reported net losses of more than $150 million since the company went public in January 2023. The company has made Sheehy rich, with net worth of between $73 million and $256 million, according to his financial disclosures.
Democrats have pounced on Sheehy’s lobbying efforts and business troubles, hoping to debunk the candidate’s claims of success.
Sheehy resigned as Bridger CEO in July, saying he wanted to concentrate on the Senate race. He remains a top shareholder in the company, which lost 70% of its value over the past year, and said he would put his stocks into a blind trust if elected.
Much of that goes to paying interest for debt the company took on for aircraft acquired under Sheehy, who is considered to have a strong chance of toppling Tester after Republicans dominated recent elections in the state. In March an auditor raised the specter of potential bankruptcy.
“If that’s a Montana success story, I’d like to see a failure,” said Marc Cohodes, a Wall Street investor and short-seller living in Bozeman, Montana, who’s been a vocal critic of Sheehy’s business record.
The company’s problems leave Sheehy politically vulnerable, particularly among independent voters who are looking at his background rather than his party affiliation, said Jeremy Johnson, a political analyst at Carroll College.
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