Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who assaulted a newspaper reporter the day before being elected to Congress, pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor assault charge but avoided jail time.
Gianforte appeared in Gallatin County Justice Court, where Judge Rick West ordered him to serve 40 hours of community service, attend 20 hours of anger management sessions and pay $385 in fines.
West initially had sentenced Gianforte to four days in jail but quickly changed the sentence.
Gianforte attacked reporter Ben Jacobs from The Guardian newspaper on May 24 when Jacobs asked him a healthcare policy question at his campaign headquarters in Bozeman. Gianforte began shouting at Jacobs to leave, then body-slammed the reporter to the ground, breaking his glasses. A Fox news crew was in the room at the time, and corroborated Jacobs' account of the assault.
As part of a settlement, Jacobs agreed not to sue the 56-year-old politician and Gianforte said he would donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Nancy Keenan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, called for Gianforte to resign following his sentencing. "The people of Montana need a representative in Congress," Keenan said in a statement. "They do not need a criminal. Gianforte should not be sworn in as a member of Congress, and if he is, he must resign."
