A number of college athletes in Montana have been offered money in exchange for endorsement videos for Democratic Senator Jon Tester as he runs for re-election in 2024, according to emails.

According to University of Montana athletic director Kent Haslam, a group called ‘Montana Together’ recently sourced student-athletes at the university offering payments in exchange for the endorsement of Tester. The group’s initial contact with the athletes came in July through a representative of Opendorse.com, a platform used by student-athletes to land Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals.

According to emails obtained by Fox News, ‘Montana Together’ was offering student-athletes $400 for two scripted videos, $800 for two unscripted videos, and $2,400 for four unscripted videos endorsing Tester.

“We have an NIL opportunity for Montana student-athletes, and I could use your help getting the information below to any individuals who you recommend applying for this campaign. Montana Together is using Opendorse to source athletes for an NIL deal,” the email reads. “Who are they looking for?: Athletes who attend college in Montana and are interested in spreading the word about Senator Jon Tester and causes you care about.”

Fox News was told by Tester’s campaign that they had no knowledge of the actions and are not in communication with ‘Montana Together.’

Based on the emails, Sen. Tester and his campaign come across as incredibly desperate. Given his stance on transgender athletes competing in women’s sports – something voters in the historically red state of Montana are likely very passionate about – his desperation makes sense.

Sen. Tester was one of 51 Democrats who voted against a Republican-led amendment to prevent biological men from competing in women’s sports.

Lily Meskers, a track athlete at the University of Montana who first made the offer to athletes public, remembered the senator’s stance on that specific matter.

“When I first received the NIL deal offer, I immediately felt frustration. I had to ask myself, ‘Why would someone seek my endorsement when their values directly negatively impact me?’ Tester’s vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is against everything I’ve worked toward as a female athlete,” Meskers explained.

“This vote is a gateway to biological men taking away scholarships, medals and roster spots from female athletes. Many female athletes on my team shared this frustration.”

Tester was first elected to the United States Senate in 2006 and has won re-election in each of the last two cycles. He is running against Republican Tim Sheehy, a former Navy Seal Officer, this election cycle.

U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy recently said he parachuted into Glacier National Park as part of his military training in Montana — an activity a national park spokesperson said is not permitted.

Sheehy, a Republican and a former U.S. Navy SEAL, made the comment at a campaign event last month, according to a video posted on Facebook and shared multiple times. He used the story to tell the group about how he grew up in Minnesota, but got to know the Treasure State. 

Sheehy did not respond to questions sent this week to two campaign staff members asking for details about the claim.

However, a Glacier National Park official said parachuting, hang gliding and base jumping are not allowed in the park.

Public Information Officer Gina Icenoggle said the park does not grant special permission for the U.S. military, and if the activity is taking place, it is illegal.

“There is no way to get permission,” Icenoggle said.

Sheehy is a decorated veteran. His awards include a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and other commendations.

He was commissioned into the military in 2008 and was on active duty until September 2014, according to records from the U.S. Navy. He was in the reserves until 2019.

The businessman based in Bozeman is campaigning to unseat incumbent Democrat and U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, a farmer seeking his fourth term in office.

Tester is the only Democrat elected to statewide office in Montana.

Republicans have put a target on his back, and Democrats are pouring money into the race to keep him in office. Political control of the U.S. Senate could hinge on the outcome of the race in Montana.

The Daily Montanan requested information from, the U.S. Navy about any parachute training it conducted in Glacier National Park. A Naval Special Warfare spokesperson said it trains in Montana but did not have any record of parachute training in the park.

In the video of Sheehy’s recent campaign stop, he talked about first coming to Montana after growing up in Minnesota and entering the military. He said he trained in the Limestone Hills.

Fort Harrison provides military training facilities at different sites in Montana including the Limestone Hills southeast of Helena. All branches of the military have access to the facilities overseen by the Montana National Guard.

Master Sgt. Michael Touchette said he is not aware of any arrangements with Glacier. However, he said the Guard does not have much visibility on the training Special Forces soldiers undertake.

“They’ll travel 20 miles through the mountains in the winter in the middle of the snow,” Touchette said.

A Naval Special Warfare spokesperson said its Special Forces conduct cold weather training in many states, including Montana. He said the following in response to the Daily Montanan’s questions about any parachute training in Glacier National Park or in any other parks:

Sheehy earlier said he lied about a different Glacier National Park incident, according to reporting this spring from The Washington Post.

In 2015, Sheehy received a citation for illegally discharging a weapon in the park, and he paid a $525 fine for it, according to records from The Washington Post; the Daily Montanan cited the Post’s reporting in an earlier story.

However, Sheehy told The Post he had lied about the illegal discharge.

He said he fell while on a hike; feared the injury had dislodged an old, unreported bullet in his arm; and manufactured the story about the illegal discharge to dissuade any investigation into whether he had been shot by friendly fire while on duty overseas.

Sheehy did not release medical records from the incident.

Sheehy and Tester are running a close race. It is listed as a toss-up by the Cook Political Report.

Tester, however, has far outraised Sheehy. In the most recent reporting period, Tester pulled in $6.4 million, and Sheehy raised $3.1 million, including a $400,000 loan he gave his campaign.

Trust us, says the state’s largest public utility company, NorthWestern Energy, as it made a historic rate increase request two years ago, only to have another large rate request wallop its Montana customers this year.

Trust us, says the same company which can’t even tell the truth in a pleading to the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court when it says that a coal plant in southern Montana is the largest plant west of the Mississippi, even though it doesn’t appear to be in the top 3. And don’t even get me started on NorthWestern’s crocodile tears about having to update Colstrip when it has literally been planning to spool it down because of exorbitant pollution control costs, known decades ago.

Trust us, says NorthWestern as it rushes headlong into more fossil fuels, even while most other utilities invest in renewables, some building multi-million dollar projects in Montana to ship energy several states away.

So it’s probably not surprising that NorthWestern is asking to trust it again, as it wants to shut the public out of meetings where members of (*checks notes again) the public are supposed to help put together a plan for the utility company’s future in Montana.

The public, as it turns out, is a burden and inconvenience, but not so much that the utility company can’t turn around and squeeze a healthy rate of return out of us.

In fact, the public is held in such little regard by NorthWestern Energy that they’ve told the Montana Public Service Commission it’s “essential” to keep the public out of its meetings where the future of Montana’s energy landscape is being discussed. In fact, officials with the utility hold the public in such contempt that they won’t even disclose the members of their company who serve on the Electrical Technical Advisory Committee, mandated by law to be, well, public.

The Montana Public Service Commission has shown a renewed sense of independence lately and has both demanded answers about this clandestine committee, as well as publicly rebuked NorthWestern for its shoddy rate case proposal — twice.

Like all publicly regulated utilities, NorthWestern is guaranteed a reasonable rate of return (read: profit margin) in exchange for having the public involved in its business. There are likely many businesses which would take that deal — a guarantee of financial success, for a bit of public scrutiny.

The trouble is two-fold: NorthWestern has been historically used to getting whatever it wants at the Public Service Commission, by bluster or legal threat. And, the company is recoiling at the indignity of having to answer why it would rather close out the public.

But NorthWestern is learning the most basic rule of public participation. True, involving the public in commenting and participation guarantees a lengthier, messier process. It’s not as easy for companies or leaders to insist on their way. And, involving the public, even dissenting voices, means compromise, and sometimes consideration of inconvenient questions, like, for example, the role of burning fossil fuels in the sometimes catastrophic climate change taking place beneath the “Big Sky.”

I would suggest NorthWestern wants it both ways, though. It wants to dictate how and what it builds in the future, as well as demand the price it wants to extract from the captive customers who have no choice but to pony up. That, though, disregards the public part of public utilities, which is customers should have a say in what kind of power we want.

By intentionally not releasing information, even the basic kind which includes who sits on the committee and what are the topics discussed, NorthWestern creates its own public relations nightmare in which ratepayers, residents, and nosy columnists assume the worst because the utility company admits it’s purposefully hiding information that everyone else believes should be public.

It’s excellent that the groups which have brought this issue to the forefront continue to demand action. If we have to be held captive by a company whose future plans include taking us back to the days of coal, then transparency would be welcome. And, we’re encouraged that the Public Service Commission has embraced a more critical and even confrontational posture, literally putting the “public service” part back into the equation.

So when NorthWestern energy asks us to trust them, I’d suggest it’s time to turn the tables on them: When will it begin to start trusting the public?