Jon Tester's claims of Stimulus Money for Montana, disputed by DHS

Pork Project Pay-for-Play?

Freshman Democrat Senator Jon Tester of Montana, is facing criticism regarding $77 million in Federal Stimulus dollars slated for the expansion and improvement of border patrol stations in his State. One of the stations set for improvement, described as a "sleepy station" that sees only 3 people a day, will be expanded to the size of a "Hollywood Mansion."

Tester is claiming that he and fellow MT Dem Senator Max Baucus are responsible for getting the dollars to Montana for "job growth."

Two reporters with the AP Eilieen Sullivan and Matt Apuzzo, originally reported:

Despite Obama's promises that the stimulus plan would be transparent and free of politics, the government is handing out $720 million for border upgrades under a process that is both secretive and susceptible to political influence. This allowed low-priority projects such as the checkpoint in Whitetail, Mont., to skip ahead of more pressing concerns, according to documents revealed to The Associated Press.

The Whitetail project, which involves building a border station the size and cost of a Hollywood mansion, benefited from two key allies, Montana Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester. Both pressed Napolitano to finance projects in their state. Tester's office boasted of that effort in an April news release, crediting Baucus and his seat at the head of the "powerful Senate Finance Committee."

Note - Sen. Baucus is Chairman of the crucial committee overseeing Obama's health care reform, while Tester, is one of the criticial Red State Democrat "swing votes" in the Senate.

But now it turns out the Obama administration, in an apparent attempt to avoid allegations of pay-for-play, is disputing Tester's claim. Janet Napolitano at DHS took the unusual step through a spokesman of contesting the Tester release.

From NewsMax.com, Aug. 30:

"Politicians take credit for things that go on in their state whether they deserve it or not," Homeland Security spokesman Sean Smith said Friday. "These guys are politicians. I don't think anyone should be surprised if they decided to jump in front of that and take some credit for that."

At issue is a Jan. 17 meeting between Tester and Napolitano where the Senator stressed in general terms, the importance of protecting the northern border to the DHS Secretary. Transcripts of that meeting have yet to be released.