Montana's out-of-action Gov. Greg Gianforte is on vacation in TUSCANY as historic floods devastate his state and Yellowstone faces 'indefinite' closure
It was finally revealed Thursday that the governor and his wife were staying at Casole d'Elsa - a hilltop village in the swish Italian province
The governor - who previously refused to confirm the location of his trip - is now returning to Montana Thursday evening
Historic flooding continues to ravage the state, and Yellowstone National Park faces 'indefinite' closure
His office had said that he will return 'early and as quickly as possible,' but has not provided any information about where he is or exactly when he will return
The governor's absence comes as unprecedented flooring ravages his state, compromising Billings' drinking-water supply and closing Yellowstone Park
June 16, 2022
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte was vacationing in the Italian region of Tuscany while his state was dealing with what officials called a 'once-in-every-500-years' flooding disaster.
It was finally revealed Thursday that the governor and his wife Susan were staying at Casole d'Elsa - a stunning hilltop village in the swish Italian province - by Newsy.
The governor - who previously refused to confirm the location of his trip - is now returning to Montana Thursday evening as historic flooding continues to ravage the state, and Yellowstone National Park faces 'indefinite' closure.
It is unclear if he cut his holiday to Tuscany short, or decided to wait until its planned conclusion to travel back to his stricken state.
The governor's office had previously said that he will be returning 'as quickly as possible,' but provided no specifics about when that would be.
Many compared Gianforte to Ted Cruz, who came under fire for vacationing in Cancun while Texans froze to death during a mass power-outage in winter, 2021.
One internet meme superimposed Gianforte's head onto a photo of Cruz walking through the airport while returning from the Mexico trip.
Sauce/moar: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10925221/Montanas-action-Gov-Greg-Gianforte-vacation-TUSCANY-historic-floods-devastate.html
That's a VERY masculine looking wife he has there…
Wiki: Affiliations and investments
Gianforte has had a variety of business interests and investments. In November 2013, he was appointed to the board of FICO, which profiles consumer credit risks for lenders.[55] The same month, Gianforte acquired 8,000 shares of FICO, which were then valued at more than $464,000.00.[56] Gianforte is a partner in MGRR No. 1, a limited liability company that has received grain subsidies since 1995.[57] Gianforte was the founding board chair of the Montana High Tech Business Alliance. He resigned as board chair in June 2017 when he was sworn into Congress.[58]
In financial disclosure forms filed in 2017, Gianforte indicated that he owned $150,000 worth of shares in VanEck Vectors Russia ETF and $92,400 in the IShares MSCF Russia ETF, totalling just under $250,000 in two exchange-traded funds focused on investments in Russia.[59] The investments attracted attention because they includedshares in Gazprom and Rosneft, which are subject to U.S. sanctions imposed after the Russian invasion of Crimea; however, because the per-person ownership stake in these companies is so small in such index funds, they are exempt from sanctions.[59] After the issue was raised in Gianforte's 2017 congressional campaign, Gianforte stated that his Russia holdings were a small portion of his overall investments and pledged to place all of his assets in a blind trust if elected.[59][60]
Through a holding corporation,Gianforte owns a 12-seat private jet which he has used as a strategic asset on the campaign trail.[61][62] He made the aircraft available to others in his congressional caucus to travel back east to Washington for important votes.[63]