Club Owner is a Donor to the Governor

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The Latest on a settlement between Montana and the Yellowstone Club resort:

The owner of the Yellowstone Club and co-owner of three of the four liquor licenses the Montana Department of Revenue threatened to revoke from the ultra-exclusive resort’s bars and restaurants is a campaign donor to Gov. Steve Bullock.

Representatives for Bullock and the Yellowstone Club said Tuesday that CrossHarbor Capital co-founder and managing partner Sam Byrne’s past donations were not a factor in the state agency’s decision to settle allegations that club officials sold and stored alcohol at unlicensed locations.

Yellowstone Club officials agreed to a $370,000 settlement that allows the resort to keep its liquor licenses and continue the application process for a new one.

Records show Byrne donated a total of $31,152 to Bullock’s Big Sky Values political-action committee in 2017 and 2018. He and his wife also donated to Bullock’s 2012 and 2016 gubernatorial campaigns.