02/05/2019
Montana Lawmakers want to increase the penalties for assaulting a reporter. FOX’s Chad Pergram has more in today’s “Speaker’s Lobby.”
I’m Chad Pergram with the Speaker’s Lobby.
There is an old adage in politics, that it’s best to not cross people who buy ink by the barrel.
Republican Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte is best known for grabbing a hold of Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper, and slamming him into the ground and breaking Jacob’s glasses the night before a Gianforte’s special election win in 2017.
Gianforte was convicted of assault, fined nearly $400, and sentenced to 40 hours of community service. He’s required to take anger management training.
So, Democrats in the Montana state legislature are now trolling Gianforte.
Montana State Representative Tom Woods introduced the “Protect the Free Press Act.
Woods’ bill ups the penalty for assaulting a journalist from the maximum of $500 to $5000 dollars.
It also requires a one year jail term.
Woods introduced the measure as the Montana legislature is meeting for the first time since Gianforte’s assault on Jacobs.
The legislature only assembles for a few months every other year.
Gianforte is considering a gubernatorial bid in 2020.
With the Speaker’s Lobby, Chad Pergram. FOX News.
