Tim Fox (politician)

Montana Attorney General (2013–2021)

A Republican, Fox was elected Montana Attorney General in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016.^[4] During Fox's tenure, the Montana Department of Justice created a statewide testing and tracking system for untested rape kits.^[5] Along with other Republican attorneys general, Fox filed suit against the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan^[6] and against the Environmental Protection Agency over the Waters of the United States Rule.^[7] Fox had represented the inland states' interests in a lawsuit against the state of Washington over its refusal to permit a coal export terminal that would provide access to Asian markets.^[8]

In December 2020, Fox joined with Texas attorney general Ken Paxton's brief to SCOTUS to delay the electoral college votes of four states. Fox stated that he wanted to address irregularities in the four states that would have favored Democrats.^[9] Paxton sued the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, where certified results showed Joe Biden the electoral victor over President Donald Trump. Paxton, who is being investigated by the FBI, was thought to be fishing for a pardon from Trump. Fox joined the lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election by challenging election processes in four states where Trump lost. Fox and 16 other states' Attorneys General who supported Paxton's challenge of the election results alleged numerous instances of unconstitutional actions in the four states' presidential ballot tallies, arguments that had already been rejected in other state and federal courts.^[10]

In Texas v. Pennsylvania, Paxton asked the United States Supreme Court to invalidate the states' sixty-two electoral votes, allowing Trump to be declared the winner of a second presidential term.^[11] Because the suit has been characterized as a dispute between states, the Supreme Court retains original jurisdiction, though it frequently declines to hear such suits.^[12] There was no evidence of consequential illegal voting in the election.^[13] Paxton's lawsuit included claims that had been tried unsuccessfully in other courts and shown to be false.^[14] Officials from each of the four states described Paxton's lawsuit as having recycled false and disproven claims of irregularity.^[15] The merits of the objections were sharply criticized by legal experts and politicians.^[16][17] Election law expert Rick Hasen described the lawsuit as "the dumbest case I've ever seen filed on an emergency basis at the Supreme Court."^[18][19] Nebraska Republican senator Ben Sasse said the situation of Paxton initiating the lawsuit "looks like a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt", in reference to Paxton's own state and federal legal issues (securities fraud charges and abuse of office allegations).^[20] On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court quickly rejected the suit which Fox had joined, in an unsigned opinion.^[21]

2020 Montana gubernatorial campaign

Fox was a candidate for Governor of Montana in the 2020 election. He lost the Republican primary in a landslide to Greg Gianforte, earning just 27% of the vote.^[4]