Marc Cohodes, an infamous “short seller” who attended Monday’s debate between Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Montana Senate Republican candidate Tim Sheehy, was reportedly being handled by Tester staffers, as the short seller and Tester donors have demanded investigations into the Democrat’s Republican opponent.
Breitbart News reported that Sheehy, who hopes to oust Tester this November, is a former Navy SEAL who founded the Montana-based aerial firefighting company Bridger Aerospace Group Holdings. His experience as a businessman and veteran has been a focal point of his campaign. Recent polling has shown that he has been leading Tester.
During Monday’s debate, Sheehy slammed Tester for serving as the “number one recipient of lobbyist cash” in the country.
“So if you want to talk about backroom meetings: While I was fighting in Afghanistan, he was eating lobbyist steak in DC,” Sheehy said.
Cohodes led a letter alongside many Montana businessmen, many of them Tester donors, calling for investigations into how Bridger used $160 million worth of bonds.
Gallatin County and Sheehy’s campaign have rebuked the investigation’s claims, saying it amounts to a politically motivated inquiry against Sheehy.
“Marc Cohodes is a low-life short seller who makes his money betting against American businesses. He is attacking Bridger Aerospace because he thinks he can hurt Tim’s campaign and make a buck in the process,” a Sheehy spokesperson said in early September.
Matthew Foldi of the conservative outlet the Washington Reporter said Monday he obtained footage of Cohodes attending the debate between Sheehy and Tester. He reported that sources said that Tester staffers “handled” Cohodes at the debate.
Cohodes said in a statement to Montana local media in early September that his attacks against Bridger are neither financial nor political.
Many of the signers of the letter against Sheehy’s company are Tester donors, Breitbart News reported:
Deidre Quinn, one of the signers of the letter, is a longtime Tester supporter.
“I think he does a great job for our states,” Quinn said, citing his support for abortion and farmers.
Billy McWilliams, who owns the Erotique adult boutique in Bozeman, has regularly donated to the Montana Democrat Party, Montanans for Tester, and other Democrat causes.
Swep Davis Jr. has donated to Montanans for Tester and the Montana Democratic Party.
“This could lend credence to the Republican theory that Tester is working with Cohodes to attack a Montana business,” Foldi wrote.Related: GOP Senate Candidate Tim Sheehy on How to Beat Jon Tester in Montana
M. Perdie, J. Knudsen / Breitbart NewsSean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
