It appears the hand may have slipped off the plow, even if slightly, for Fellowship Baptist Church pastor Jordan Hall, as reports have emerged stating he is settling a libel lawsuit filed by transgender Native American lobbyist Adrian Jawort.
The Sidney, Montana minister has publicly apologized to Jawort on his online blog, The Montana Daily Gazette, and admits he made up the story about a dispute between Jawort and Sen. Butch Gillespie that caused the senator to seek protection from the Montana Senate’s sergeant-at- arms.
The apology posted on The Montana Daily Gazette states:
“I apologize to Adrian Jawort. The information I published about Adrian was false. Adrian did not threaten or harass Senator Butch Gillespie. I regret the error and sincerely apologize to Adrian for publishing it.”
— Jordan Hall, Publisher Montana Daily Gazette
According to a report by Darrell Ehrlick of the Montana Daily, the settlement and a potential $250,000 claim was reached as Hall is going through the bankruptcy process, seeking protection from a libel case, as well as discharging attorney’s fees he racked up during the libel fight.
As part of the settlement, the statement must remain on the website of the Montana Daily Gazette for seven days in a “prominent” place and cannot be deleted from the site.
The libel case was filed as the result of an anonymous story published on The Montana Daily Gazette titled “Who’s the Gothic Transvestite Haunting the Halls of the Montana Capitol?”, published under Hall’s Gideon Knox Group, claiming Jawort attacked Gillespie in the halls of the Capitol. In the story, Hall said that Jawort had attacked Gillespie during a hearing on a controversial bill regarding transgender athletes.
Hall now admits his account of the incident was not true.
While Jawort will ask the state court to dismiss the charges of libel against Hall, the lobbyist will be able to claim a $250,000 judgment against Hall’s estate in bankruptcy court as part of the settlement. That case is still pending, and it’s unclear whether Jawort will be able to claim any of the judgement.
In a statement posted on the Daily Montanan, Jawort said, “I am grateful that after a tumultuous year, Pastor Jordan Hall was finally able to admit committing libel and bearing false witness against me. In this day and age when trans people like myself are targeted with political bullseyes on our backs, it was especially dangerous of him to falsely accuse me of bullying and harassing an elderly state Senator I’d never met to the point where the sergeant-at-arms had to pull me away,” Jawort said. “There are people out there who’d physically hurt me, if they thought that was true and then saw me, to take revenge.”
Sen. Gillespie, a Republican from Toole County, had previously issued an affidavit in connection with the lawsuit. On Sept. 30, 2021 Gillespie said he was yelled at by a person he didn’t recognize.
“As I neared the main doors leading to the Senate floor, the person who had previously expressed his opposition to HB112 became very passionate,”The person began yelling about HB 112 being unfair and against humanity,” the Gillespie’s affidavit states.
According to a statement, Jawort had never testified on the bill, and wasn’t even in Helena when the incident happened.
Court records show that Jawort reached out within hours of Hall’s post, and asked for a retraction or correction for that portion of the story, letting other incendiary comments pass.
When Hall refused, Jawort said there was no other choice but to file suit.
“I knew that this rhetoric is only going to get worse, and they’re going to get worse,” Jawort said, adding that he was already being falsely attacked as a pedophile or as someone grooming children by some.
Jawort says it isn’t known if the event with Gillespie happened and was a case of mistaken identity, or if it was concocted to silence the LGBTQ community.
Concerning his attack on Jawort and others, Hall had proclaimed, “My attorney asked me to lay off. I can’t do it. I can’t stop. It’s compulsory. Because it is the Holy Spirt in our heart compelling us, pushing us, prodding us forward, with our hand on the plow, and we dare not take it off.”
The pastor is on a three-month sabbatical after recently being charged with driving under the influence and carrying a concealed weapon while under the influence. Hall has pleaded not guilty in the case and states fatigue and prescription medication use as the cause for the arrest.
