Sheehy accused of possible plagiarism

BILLINGS – In the video above, Hailey Monaco reports on an allegation of plagiarism against U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy of Montana.

The Daily Montanan, a nonprofit, nonpartisan online news organization, recently published an article pointing out possible plagiarism in several sections of Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy of Montana's 2023 book, “Mudslingers: A True Story of Aerial Firefighting.”

Darrell Ehrlick, editor in chief of the Daily Montanan and author of the article, said they initially received a tip that the book seemed “suspicious.” The organization then ran the book through software to search for similar works online.

“There were four passages that I would call questionable, if not outright plagiarism,” Ehrlick said. “This is a book that has no endnotes, footnotes or citations.”

The book is both an autobiography and a work of history, which Ehrlick says makes it difficult for the reader to distinguish when Sheehy was writing about his personal experiences or a historical event.

“To be clear, there's nothing wrong with using, citing, attributing or quoting other sources. All of that is perfectly legitimate. The challenge is when you don't provide the right source or reference,” Ehrlick said. “There wasn't necessarily a pattern. However, I would say that the information that I think was probably plagiarized and that the software also detected is never the kind of information that is a bombshell. It's more just supporting information.”

According to the article, plagiarism ranges from using a definition from Wikipedia without citing the source to entire paragraphs with only a few words changed.

“It's important for Montana voters to know his background. It's also important for them to know what he's accomplished so far, and I think that basically every time you get a ballot, you're being asked for your trust in some way,” Ehrlick said.

Dr. Paul Pope, a professor of political science at MSU-Billings who was also quoted in Ehrlick's article, said if plagiarism occurred in his classes, it would be a serious offense.

“In many cases, students who plagiarize will fail the course,” Pope said. “This is a bigger deal than some people may realize. Plagiarism undermines trust.”

Both MTN News and the Daily Montanan have reached out to Sheehy's campaign team for comment but have not yet received a response.