Legislative special counsel to investigate attorney general’s actions toward Helena hospital

A recently created legal position within the Montana Legislature is being put to use for the first time to investigate actions by Republican Attorney General Austin Knudsen and other public officials toward St. Peter’s hospital in Helena earlier this month.

The Montana Legislature’s Republican leadership on Monday authorized legislative special counsel Abra Belke to solicit state government documents to ascertain what happened between the attorney general’s office, hospital staff and a patient being treated for COVID, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The role of the special counsel is outlined in state law passed during the 2021 Legislature. The position, appointed and directed by the House speaker and Senate president, can “investigate and examine state governmental activities” as well as inspect “records, books, and files of any department, agency, commission, board, or institution of the state of Montana.”