Militia Of Montana Seeks Senate Hearing Because Of ‘Insults’

The Militia of Montana has asked to appear before a U.S. Senate subcommittee to answer questions and “clarify other information the committee has received.”

“One of the reasons that we did it is because of the insults that were lowered particularly against us by Sen. (Max) Baucus,” Militia of Montana co-founder John Trochmann said Wednesday.

Baucus accused the militia of antiSemitism and criticized the “even more extreme” freemen movement in remarks on the Senate floor on April 25.

“With these organizations come hate, lawlessness and terror,” Baucus said.

“The man has put our lives in jeopardy,” said Trochmann. “There have been threats to us over the telephone.”

He acknowledged that the threats had “probably been an ongoing thing. We had a couple threats before” Baucus’ speech.

The attorney for the Militia of Montana sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Government, asking to present testimony. The subcommittee on terrorism is chaired by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.

The letter was not dated, but was sent on May 1, Trochmann said.

“We did receive a letter from the Montana militia group, but we don’t have any plans yet for our hearing with militia groups,” said Margaret Kemp, a spokeswoman for Specter. “If we do schedule any hearings with militia groups in the future, we will consider them.”

Trochmann would not say what he might tell the committee if given the chance.

“I can’t address that right now,” he said. “The letter that was sent by our attorney more or less states the reason.”

The group’s attorney is former Nebraska state Sen. John DeCamp.