Rehberg boat crash report ‘raises more questions about a gross failure of accountability’
Congressman claimed ‘no signs of impairment,’ but records tell a different story
Heavily redacted report includes no witness statement from Rehberg
Oct. 31, 2012
BILLINGS, Mont. – Montanans for Tester campaign manager Preston Elliott tonight released the following statement in response to the “heavily redacted” release of the 155-page report of Congressman Dennis Rehberg’s 2009 boat crash on Flathead Lake.
“This report raises more questions about Congressman Rehberg’s gross failure of accountability and his dishonesty with Montanans about what truly happened that night. Congressman Rehberg wants us to believe there were ‘no signs of impairment,’ but these records indicate a much different story about a night of heavy drinking. More importantly, Congressman Rehberg made a decision to put his two young staffers on a boat with a driver who was obviously and severely drunk—a decision that changed lives forever. That kind of personal irresponsibility has no place in Congress.”
The boat crash report is online HERE.
Further questions raised by the report:
- Congressman Rehberg claims there were ‘no signs of impairment,’ so why does the investigative report say Barkus’ blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit a full two hours after the crash and witnesses smelled alcohol at the scene?
- Why were “red drinking cups” found at the scene? (Rehberg admitted earlier to seeing a “cooler of… margarita” on the boat.)
- The report says victim Dustin Frost, a staffer of Rehberg’s “still suffers from injuries sustained in the crash.” Has Rehberg ever been held accountable for his decision to have Frost on the boat? (Rehberg earlier said that both Frost and Kristin Smith were “staffing” him that night, which he considered a “working evening.”)
- Did Congressman Rehberg receive any insurance settlement money?
Below is a snippet from a transcript of Rehberg’s September 9, 2009 conference call with reporters, during which he was asked about the owner of the boat, state senator Greg Barkus:
AP CORRESPONDENT MATT GOURAS: Congressman, was there any indication that you could tell if Senator Barkus was impaired at all?
REP. DENNIS REHBERG: No. Absolutely not. It would be like me talking to you right now. Yeah, and I have no idea what anybody else felt, I mean we can go through and second-guess ourselves forever on this thing, but as far as I can tell I saw no signs of impairment at all. None.
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