NEW: Tim Sheehy Donated $3,300 To Tim Scott’s Presidential Campaign 3 Days After Trump Indictment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 26, 2024
CONTACT
rehm@mtdems.org
Tim Sheehy’s campaign refused to respond to multiple reporter questions about his maxed out contribution to Trump’s then-opponent
Helena, MT – New reporting reveals that Mitch McConnell recruit Tim Sheehy could be in hot water for yet another several thousand dollar campaign donation to one of Donald Trump’s Republican presidential primary opponents.
POLITICO reports that three days after Trump was first indicted on federal criminal charges, Tim Sheehy contributed the maximum allowable donation of $3,300 to Tim Scott’s presidential campaign. A month prior, Sheehy had pledged to support Trump “100 percent” following reporting that revealed Sheehy had given the maximum amount of $5,000 to Nikki Haley’s PAC after January 6th.
It also appears that Sheehy listed his occupation as “Plane Crasher” when he made the donation – which was then corrected in the Scott presidential campaign’s next quarterly filing to “Owner” of “Little Belt Cattle Company.” What’s more? When POLITICO reached out, a “Sheehy spokesperson … told us two weeks ago that she’d ask him — but stopped responding to several calls, texts and emails since then.”
POLITICO Playbook: SCOOP: A DONATION MYSTERY
January 26, 2024
SCOOP: A DONATION MYSTERY — Is someone trolling TIM SHEEHY, or is he trolling Montanans?
The GOP establishment’s pick to take on Democratic Sen. JON TESTER backed Trump last spring — so it was surprising when somebody listing Sheehy’s name and address gave the maximum donation to Sen. TIM SCOTT’s (R-S.C.) presidential campaign in June. (This was three days after Trump became the first former president in history to face federal criminal charges.)
To make matters more head-scratching, the donation listed Sheehy’s occupation as “plane crasher” — and it came five days before our now-colleague Ursula Perano reported for The Daily Beast on the existence of a lawsuit against Sheehy for a fatal plane crash that happened while he was piloting.
Campaign donations using fake famous names do happen, so it could have been a prank. But the Scott campaign later amended the report (a common practice) to list the occupation as owner of Little Belt Cattle Co., which is Sheehy’s real job.
Our colleague Jessica Piper dug through the WinRed records and found other donations in Sheehy’s name — this time to RYAN ZINKE and to Trump — that had listed “plane crasher” as the occupation in the WinRed filing, though the corresponding filings from Zinke’s campaign and Trump’s joint fundraising committee respectively listed him as a “pilot” and a “cowboy.”
Did Sheehy donate to Scott after telling the public he supported Trump, and call himself a “plane crasher”? Or is somebody messing with the NRSC’s prized recruit, who could face a tough primary challenge from Rep. MATT ROSENDALE? Sheehy spokesperson KATIE MARTIN told us two weeks ago that she’d ask him — but stopped responding to several calls, texts and emails since then. Spokespeople for Scott and WinRed didn’t respond to inquiries.
Speaking of Sheehy: “How many genders are there, according to one GOP Super PAC? Three: ‘Male,’ ‘working woman’ and ‘homemaker.’ Those are the categories given in a survey sent out to Montanans on behalf of the super PAC More Jobs, Less Government, which is supporting Montana GOP Senate candidate Tim Sheehy,” The 19th’s Grace Panetta reports. “The full online survey, obtained by The 19th, tested various messages and a yet-to-be-aired TV ad attacking Rep. Matt Rosendale, Sheehy’s potential opponent in the Republican primary.”
###
