- Montana Republican Senate candidate Tim Sheehy told WaPo that he lied about how he received his gunshot wound.
- Sheehy told park rangers in 2015 that he was shot when his gun accidentally went off.
- But Mr. Sheehy recently admitted that he was shot under uncertain circumstances while serving in Afghanistan.
Montana Senate candidate Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and one of the Republicans' star recruits in the 2024 election cycle, told the Washington Post that the 2015 incident at the state's Glacier National Park He admitted to lying to a National Park Service ranger that he had been shot during the incident.
The admission comes after Mr. Sheehy, a wealthy aerospace executive seeking a three-term run against Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, had previously made inconsistent statements about how he was shot in the right arm. It was done later.
In October 2015, Sheehy reported to rangers that he shot himself in the right arm after his Colt .45 revolver fell to the ground and discharged, according to records filed in Montana District Court.
A description of the incident included in the federal citation says the gunshot left a bullet in Sheehy's right arm, the newspaper said. The details of the summons issued by Rangers are based on details of Mr. Sheehy's case.
Sheehy ultimately paid a $525 fine for firing inside the national park, but the decision at the time was based on a report to rangers.
Asked by the Post about the Ranger's subpoena, Sheehy said he fabricated a story about the shooting to protect himself and former platoon members from questioning about a gunshot wound he suffered while in Afghanistan in 2012. He said he did.
Sheehy told the newspaper that he went to the hospital in 2015 after falling and injuring himself while hiking in Glacier National Park. While at the hospital, he told staff he had a bullet lodged in his arm and was questioned by rangers.
“I think the only thing I'm guilty of is admitting I did something I didn't do,” Sheehy told the Post, insisting that no gun went off in the national park.
Sheehy then defended himself, saying he was trying to distance former platoon members from the investigation. He told The Post that he did not know whether his gunshot wound was caused by a mutual attack or an enemy.
“It was a small price to pay to keep an entire, truly great American team, from being dragged into this quagmire,” he told the newspaper.
Lying to federal officials is a crime, but the Post reported that the statute of limitations in this case has expired.
Sheehy's lawyer, Daniel Watkins, said Sheehy was not interfering with law enforcement's investigation because no crime took place in the national park, the newspaper reported.
Mr. Sheehy's confession comes amid mounting contradictions about how he was shot and killed while serving in Afghanistan.
The Sheehy camp provided the X-rays to the Post on the condition that they be sent to experts but not released to newspapers. A professor and longtime trauma surgeon who examined the X-rays told the newspaper that it was “doubtful” that Mr. Sheehy's wounds were caused by a weapon, and that it was likely a handgun.
In his 2023 memoir, “The Mud Ringers,'' Sheehy wrote that he was shot once while serving in Afghanistan. But in another text, he wrote that he had been shot multiple times, the paper said.
Sheehy has been awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his combat service overseas, and neither award is in dispute, the newspaper said.
In a statement to the Daily Beast, Sheehy's campaign said the Republican candidate “will never let this slander stop him from fighting every day as the next U.S. senator.”
“Montanans respect and admire his selfless sacrifice for our country, but since he is running for the Republican Party, the liberal elite misinformation machine will do everything in its power to question and attempting to attack,” the statement continued.
Business Insider has reached out to Sheehy's camp for further comment.
Sheehy is expected to win the June 4 Republican Senate primary, running against Tester, a Washington Republican who has endured political headwinds for Democrats in conservative-leaning Montana for nearly two decades. He is highly regarded as one of the most promising candidates to date.
A Survey USA poll conducted in February showed Mr. Tester leading Mr. Sheehy 49% to 40%, but an Emerson College poll released in March showed Mr. Tester trailing the Republican candidate. It was shown that they were leading by a narrow margin of 44% to 42%.
