The following information concerns Republican U.S. Senate Candidate, Troy Bryan Downing's, 9 FWP Citations (below) and Montana County voting information.

His rescheduled Omnibus Hearing at the Gallatin County Justice Court was on Feb. 14, 2018. A Jury Trial date has been set for May 23, 24, and 25, 2018. Downing's attorney asked for 30 jurors instead of the usual 16-25. Background information below. The Primary Election is June 5, 2018.

Update July 18, 2018: Troy Downing Jr. pleads guilty

Update May 4: U.S. Senate candidate’s trial delayed until after primary election

Update: Downing hires same Washington D.C. researcher, Naji Filali of Percipient Strategies (previously worked for the Republican National Committee and the super PAC America Rising), to investigate Independent EMWH, after breaking the FWP citations story.

April 18, 2018, Downing’s accountant: ‘He said he had a home in Montana’ by Freddy Monares

April 20, 2018, U.S. Senate candidate’s hunting-license citation morphs into full-blown criminal case by Mike Dennison

BACKGROUND

Back in August I read an article by Don Pogreba, Let’s Talk About Troy Downing For a Moment, questioning the Montana residency status of Montana U.S. Senate candidate Troy Bryan Downing.

I feel that elected lawmakers ought to be held to a higher standard when they serve the public, not a double standard, as though the laws don't apply to them. We need to elect candidates that uphold the laws, especially those that deal with our Public Trust.

Researching FWP Game Warden citation data for a wee bit now, I know one of the ways to access residency information, if a person hunts and fishes, is through their hunting & fishing license history. So I placed a FWP public information request for Downings Montana history, as well as Alaska (from another news article) and California.

He only hunted in Alaska in 2001, showing California as his place of residency. California denied my Public Records Act request. However, I received my Montana information requests (PDFs below).

Troy Bryan Downing applied for Nonresident Conservation and Season Fishing licenses in 2002, 2003 and 2004. There were no records from 2005-2010. He applied for various Resident licenses in 2011-2017.

However, my other public information request was to see if there were any FWP citations; there were - 9 of them.

Per the FWP citations, 6 times, between 2011 and 2016 (except 2012), Downing applied for Resident licenses as a nonresident, in violation of MCA 87-6-303(1)(a) - "In that said defendant did knowingly or purposely or negligently commit the following offense: Nonresident license or permit offenses - Unlawful purchase of or apply for resident license by nonresident." There was an a 7th citation for 87-6-302 (1)(c) - "In that said defendant did knowingly or purposley or negligently commit the following offense: Unlawful procurement of license, permit, tag - Assist unqualified applicant in obtaining a license." If Downing is found guilty of breaking this law, and shot any wildlife with those licenses, he may have additional citations forthcoming. 87-6-304(5) for loaning/transferring his elk tag to another and 87-6-301(1)(a) purchasing for a non-resident a 2012 conservation and season fishing license.

Montana FWP Residency Requirements. "A person who has physically resided in Montana as the person’s principal or primary home or place of abode for 180 consecutive days and who meets all the criteria listed below immediately prior to making application for any license is eligible to receive resident hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses... owning property in Montana does not in and of itself make an individual a Montana resident."

For those that aren't aware, a Resident license is less expensive than a Non-Resident license. A nonresident purchasing a Resident license is a theft to the agency which manages our public trust resources and habitat with those dollars. In my opinion, such a theft is not only illegal, but also unethical.

I also contacted the Madison County voting office, since the Montana Cadastral shows Troy Bryan Downing owning a parcel with the Yellowstone Mountain Club on Travertine Road since 2004. They stated he was registered to vote on Feb 22, 2012 in Madison County, but no voting record. I called Gallatin County and was told that Downing was registered on Aug. 2016, voted in the November general election and the May 2017 Special election with an address of 60 Upper Moose Hill Rd., Big Sky, MT.

Later, an article came out in the Bozeman Chronicle, Montana U.S. Senate candidate claims primary home tax break in California.

"U.S. Senate candidate Troy Downing of Big Sky is receiving a tax break on property he jointly owns with his wife, Heather, in California, an exemption that is for homeowners if the home is their primary residence... The San Diego County assessor’s office confirmed that he had been receiving the homeowner’s tax exemption since 2005. The most recent property tax bill for the fiscal year beginning July 1 and ending June 30, 2018, showed Downing received the exemption... San Diego County Division Chief for Assessment Services Jeff Olson said Downing acquired the Fallbrook property in 2005 and has had the exemption since then. The application for the tax exemption is a self-declaration that is signed under penalty of perjury, he said."

I found the PDF of the San Diego County Assessors Homeowners' Property Tax Exemption.

Also online was the current property tax bill, which is public records, showing the $7000 resident Homeowner' Exemption (screenshot below) for their Sleeping Indian Road, Fallbrook property.

Concerning the MT FWP citations, in a press release on Nov. 8, Downing's campaign stated, "This is nothing more than an orchestrated attack on a combat Veteran..." Being a veteran has nothing to do with this, nor is it a defense. In the Chronicle's resident Homeowners Exemption story, Downing's campaign again tried to excuse the issue, "Downing’s Campaign Manager Kevin Gardner released a statement after being presented with the property tax bill and said it was California policy to automatically renew homeowner’s exemptions. He said if it was done, it was done without Troy’s knowledge."

This begs the question, if Downing can't keep up with his MT FWP residency information, nor notifying San Diego County's Treasurer Tax Collector as to a change in primary residence, as well as his campaign's deflecting/attacking excuses when confronted with legitimate residency questions, how in the hell would he be able to handle the very detail oriented, high pressure work load of representing Montana in Congress?

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Hunting & Fishing License History for Troy Bryan Downing PDF

Montana Fish, Widlife & Parks FWP Citations for Troy Bryan Downing PDF