Kalispell lawyer picked attorney finalists for Baucus

A Kalispell attorney forwarded the name of Sen. Max Baucus’  girlfriend, along with two other names, to the White House as  potential nominees for the Montana U.S. attorney position.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that attorney Dana Christensen said he did not know at the time that Melodee Hanes had a relationship with Baucus.

“I’ve known Max a long time. I’ve known Mel Hanes a long time. But I did not know that they had a relationship,” Christensen told the Journal.

Baucus’ staff has said that an independent third party, Christensen, was asked to select two or three people from a list of six candidates for the U.S. attorney position.

Hanes, who worked for Baucus at the time as his state staff director, was one of the candidates.

Baucus’ office has said the senator and Hanes started their relationship in mid-2008, after Baucus had separated from his wife.

A spokesman for Baucus maintained that Hanes was “an immensely qualified candidate with extensive experience and Sen. Baucus didn’t want his relationship with her to be either a qualifier or a disqualifier for a recommendation for U.S. attorney.”

Hanes withdrew her name from consideration in March, soon after taking a job with the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.

“We thought it made sense for her to withdraw her name from consideration,” Baucus told reporters on Saturday. “She also wanted to come back to Washington ... Frankly we didn’t want to live apart.”