Leo Gallagher served as the Lewis and Clark County Attorney in Montana from 2001 until his retirement at the end of 2022. Prior to being elected county attorney he was in private practice and following his retirement he resumed private practice.
In 2021, Forward Montana (alongside Forward Montana Foundation) and County Attorney Leo Gallagher, as a private citizen, filed a lawsuit challenging late-hour amendments made to Senate Bill 319. The issue at hand was an amendment that restricted political activities and voter registration on college campuses, while the other imposed strict judicial recusal requirements based on campaign donations. The judicial restrictions required judges to recuse themselves when an attorney appeared before them that had made campaign donations to their campaigns. Upper Seven Law provided legal counsel for plaintiffs.
Let us first look at Forward Montana Foundation. Forward Montana Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. As such they are required to file an IRS form 990. Their stated mission is to educate, engage and organize young Montanans to shape their democracy to improve their lives and the lives of fellow Montanans. The Forward Montana Foundation explicitly describes itself—and is widely categorized—as a homegrown, youth-led, grassroots organization. Kiersten Iwai was the executive director from November 2019 to January 2025. She is originally from San Diego, California. She moved here to be the executive director of a Montana grassroots organization. Available IRS forms from 2020-2024 reveal that she worked 12 hours a week for 5 years and was compensated for that 12 hours a week in the amount of $404,390.00. That is solid compensation for 12 hours a week for a Montana grassroot organizer from California. As of 2024, the listed assets of this Montana grassroots organization was $2,569,699.00. Leo Gallagher collaborated with Kiersten Iwai as co-plaintiff’s in a lawsuit against the State of Montana.
Now let us look at Upper Seven Law, the law firm that represented the collaboration of Leo Gallagher and Montana Forward Foundation. Upper Seven Law is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Their stated mission is: Upper Seven Law is dedicated to holding the powerful accountable and advocating for the constitutional rights of all Montanans. Upper Seven Law receives vital institutional backing from the Barbara McDowell Social Justice Center. This is another 501(c)(3) charitable organization centered in Falls Church, Virginia. Their stated mission is: We litigate, advocate and educate on behalf of underserved and underrepresented communities across the country to bridge the widening gap between the rich and the poor and the powerful and the voiceless.
Do you see where this is going? We now have a Montana grassroots organizer from California that works 12 hours a week for a compensation of $404,390.00 and a Montana law firm, Upper Seven, that receives their vital funding from the Barbara McDowell Social Center in Virginia. Everyone is a 501(c)(3) organization. Forward Montana and Leo Gallagher were co-plaintiffs suing the State of Montana using all these 501(c)(3) charitable organizations resources. Dark money refers to political spending meant to influence U.S. elections, public policy or political discourse where the sources of the funding remain undisclosed to the public. It is called Daisy Chains: Multi-tiered transfers pass money through a sequence of intermediate organizations, making it exceedingly difficult for voters or regulators to trace the initial donor.
Leo Gallagher’s position of co-plaintiff was not altruistic. He was planning on retiring and resuming private practice. Section 22 of SB 319 would impact his private practice litigation as to contributions to judges campaigns and he found an opportunity to sue the State of Montana to prevent that. He found an opportunity wherein all these 501(c)(3) charitable organizations would foot the costs. From California to Virginia he found his funding.
But wait, there’s more. The State of Montana, you the taxpayer, ended up paying the attorney fees to Upper Seven Law in the amount of $105,000.00. That was your hard earned money. The charitable 501(c)(3) funded by another charitable 501(c)(3) from Virginia and the grassroots organizer from California 501(c)(3). What a gig.