Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) acknowledges he made up a story about intimidating Republican poll watchers on Indian reservations.

Schweitzer discussed the 2006 U.S. Senate election in a speech to the American Association for Justice in July. He said he "designed a plan to threaten poll watchers on Indian reservations" and orchestrated the way election results were released.

As part of the alleged plan, Schweitzer said tribal police threatened to arrest GOP poll workers. “Then they said to them, ‘People matching your description have been reported as having stolen a pickup about 30 miles (away). We only have one jail here and we don’t have a phone here, and we’ve already got 11 people in the jail. Sometimes it takes two or three days to work these things out," Schweitzer said in the speech.

"So you either come with us in the backseat of our car or you can both get in the front seat of your car and we’ll lead you off the reservation, and if we never see you again, you won’t go to jail.’ We didn’t lose one single vote there,” he said.

Tribal members voted overwhelmingly for Sen. Jon Tester (D), who defeated former Sen. Conrad Burns (R), who had been linked to the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Get the Story:
Schweitzer under fire for remark (The Missoulian 9/11)
Schweitzer called out for election boasts (The Billings Gazette 9/11)
Schweitzer's election comments draw fire (The Great Falls Tribune 9/11)

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Native vote in Montana favors Democrat Tester (11/9)