As I was drinking a cup of coffee Saturday morning, I marveled a bit when I saw a national news station dish out some “breaking” news about Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. and his girlfriend, Melodee Hanes. The story: Baucus had earlier this year nominated Hanes — then his state director — as Montana’s U.S. attorney. The rub: She was his grirlfriend. In recent press reports, she said she withdrew her name in March. That’s when I wrote a news story for Lee Enterprises calling into question the fairness of the nomination process for U.S. attorney. I talked to every known candidate for the postion before I was able to figure out the three people nomiated by Baucus.
My entry into this story begain around February 2009 when a source called me with information about the beyond-professional relationship between Baucus and Hanes. I made a few phone calls to follow up on the lead. After I had sufficient information, I called Kaiser Barrett, the spokesman for Baucus. I had two questions. First, would Baucus confirm his romantic relationship with Hanes? Second. Did the senator see a conflict of interest in nominating his girlfriend as U.S. attorney? The story stretched out for weeks before I finally placed a final phone call to Barrett around March 11, 2009. I said we’re running the story in the next day’s paper. He then sent out a statement via e-mail saying Hanes was NOT a candidate for U.S. attorney. This was around the same time she apparently withdrew her name, according to recent press reports. I quit working at the paper in May to write a book about another government scandal, the Cobell vs. Salazar lawsuit. Amazingly, the Baucus story is breaking more than nine months later. I’d be surprised if it went away any time soon. And I’m quite surprised that the matter has come up again. This time, with the Baucus camp admitting that he is in a relationship with his former staff member.
The main reason I ever pursued the story was because I was interested in the fairness in the nomination process driven by Montana’s senior senator. How many qualified candidates were dismissed so the senator could nominate his girlfriend to be Montana’s next U.S. Attorney?
A source tipped me off about the Baucus and Hanes relationship. I tracked down Hanes’ husband, Thomas Bennett, a doctor who lives in Billings, Mont. Bennett and I talked on the phone several times. He said his wife was having an affair with Baucus. He was upset because so many people knew about the affair before him. Bennett and Hanes divorced in December 2008. In February 2009, I arranged a meeting with Bennett in Missoula in which he showed me an e-mail his wife sent to the senator. Hanes called Baucus her “furnace.”
Here’s an excerpt from Indianz.com for the Lee Enterprises story I wrote in March:
Jodi Rave: U.S. Attorney candidates for Montana
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Filed Under: Law | Politics“Montana Democratic Sen. Max Baucus recently forwarded three names to President Barack Obama as his top picks for U.S. attorney in Montana, his spokesman confirmed.
As of this week, only two people confirmed they were interviewed for the job.
Attorneys Mike Wheat of Bozeman and Mike Cotter of Helena both said they were interviewed in late January by Baucus and Sen. Jon Tester at the senior senator’s Helena office. Billings attorney and Baucus staff member Melodee Hanes once confirmed her interest in the job, but is no longer competing.
“Max and Jon cannot make the names of those who applied for these positions public out of respect for their privacy,” Barrett Kaiser, the spokesman, said in an e-mail to the Missoulian. “However, I can tell you that Melodee Hanes is NOT a candidate for U.S. attorney.”
Meanwhile, at least half a dozen Montana lawyers have expressed interest in the U.S. attorney job, including Hanes; Wheat, a recent attorney general candidate; Cotter, a civil law attorney; Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg; John Mudd, executive counsel for the state auditor; and Josh Van de Wetering, a former deputy U.S. attorney.”
Baucus spokesman Ty Matsdorf said in a December 2009 statement to Main Justice, a Justice Department watchdog new source : “Senator Max Baucus is currently in a mature and happy relationship with Melodee Hanes. They are both divorced, and in no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces.”
As I read the online stories and watch the network news about the affair this weekend, I’m convinced someone will prove otherwise. Is this enough to put Baucus through a Senate ethics committee investigation?
More later.
Jodi Rave
