Windy Boy says constitutional rights violated in allegations of harassing texts

Editor’s note: A February 22 Associated Press story used for information in this story, including AP reporting state Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, “said he knew the complaint involved Windy Boy, but he didn't handle it because it involved a member of the House, not the Senate,” and that “that the Windy Boy case ‘did influence my decision (about a new anti-harassment policy) to some extent.’” The Associated Press issued a correction Wednesday, saying, “Sales said he knew who was the subject of the complaint, but did not publicly identify him.”

A state representative has broken his silence on allegations that he sent harassing texts that led to procedural changes in the state Legislature.

PR Newswire released a story today with information from The Human Solution, Native American Rights Division, saying the organization condemned the allegations as manipulation of abuse claims to further a political agenda of a smear campaign against Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder.

Windy Boy, who had not previously responded to calls and emails from the Havre Daily News, sent a statement to the Havre Daily after consulting with his attorney.

Windy Boy said the report in question cannot be used as evidence against him because of documents reserving privacy.

"My constitutional rights and due process have been grossly violated," Windy Boy said in the statement. "There are up to nine federal laws that may have been violated during this ordeal. One in particular, the contents in (18 United States Code) 2515, which states that the contents of the privileged private communications, and any evidence derived from therefrom cannot be accepted as evidence (against me).

"However, it's my hope that this vilification will not happen again, against anybody on either side of the aisle," Windy Boy added. "My legal team will advise me further on this matter."

The Associated Press, after it filed a public records request, received a redacted copy of a report by Great Falls attorney Jean Faure released in March 2018 about a legislator sending texts to another legislator and to a legislative staff member that led Faure to recommend in a report released in March 2018 that legislative leaders take action against the lawmaker who sent the texts between August and October 2017 before the harassment could happen again.

Both the alleged - unnamed - victim and Windy Boy had signed State Legislative Service documents reserving their privacy rights during, and subsequent to, completion of the March 2018 investigation report produced as a result of the allegations, the PR Newswire release says.

Former House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, told The Associated Press that Windy Boy was the person who sent the texts.

The PR Newswire release said Knudsen identifying Windy Boy as the subject of the confidential internal investigation is a serious breach of legal and ethical privacy mandates.

Knudsen told AP that he did not have much power over Windy Boy at that time because the Legislature was in session. He added that Democratic legislative leaders requested to be allowed to speak to Windy Boy before any disciplinary action was taken.

He said he had authority to remove Windy Boy as chair of the State-Tribal Relations Committee, but Windy Boy resigned shortly after the Democratic leadership asked for more time to speak to him.

Windy Boy said in the PR Newswire article that his resignation had nothing to do with the allegations.

"I decided to resign from the interim committee because I felt it was for the higher good of the committee, the good work the committee does, and the work I do in my main job conflicts with the dates of the committee and my day job compelled me to this decision," he said, "not because of guilt. The only thing I'm guilty of is being a single man asking a single lady out for dinner and she accepted. What no one has said in the claim, in the report or in the media is that she accepted my offer to go out. The next thing I knew, the situation elevated into this."

The Associated Press reported that Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, said he knew the complaint involved Windy Boy, but he didn't handle it because it involved a member of the House, not the Senate.

Sales had argued in 2017 that the Legislature didn't need a new anti-harassment policy, but he changed his mind and voted for it. He told AP that the Windy Boy case "did influence my decision to some extent."

PR Newswire's story reports that, during a phone interview, current Senate Majority Leader Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, said, "I have no comment in regards to the issue with Jonathan Windy Boy."

When asked about the anti-harassment rules that he co-authored being in line with the #MeToo movement, Thomas said, "This has absolutely nothing to do with the #MeToo movement. This was simply an upgrading of the rules and regulations regarding harassment and how it is dealt with by our HR Department. That's all it is - a simple upgrade."

Duncan Standing Rock, a Chippewa Cree Tribe elder and legal consultant for the tribe, said in the PR Newswire article that the accusations are contrary to Windy Boy's work.

"This news story is so full of innuendo and half-truths that you have to go through it line by line to pull the truth from the fiction," he said. "You must look at the man's voting record and the laws that he has authored. He has a clear history of pushing women's rights, disenfranchised people's and Native American people's rights as his core agenda. This is a history that his opposition does not appreciate."

Windy Boy said in the PR Newswire release that the allegations are all a smear campaign.

"There are signed agreements from both parties involved," he said. "I respect those individuals' right to privacy since my constitutional rights to privacy have been trampled. I have the right to defend myself. There have been no charges, no adjudication and no disposition. No laws were broke. This is all politics."