Gianforte reports for mugshot and fingerprints after assault charge

Rep. Greg Gianforte (R-Mont.) reported to the Gallatin, Mont., county jail on Friday to provide his mugshot and fingerprints as a requirement of his misdemeanor conviction.

The congressman, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for body-slamming a reporter, was ordered last week by a judge to provide his booking information to the jail, according to The Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

Gianforte was the Republican candidate running to fill Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Montana House seat. 

{mosads}Despite the intense backlash after the candidate assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs at a campaign event on the eve Montana’s special election in May, Gianforte won the traditionally red at-large district.

The congressman issued an apology to Jacobs after the incident and agreed to donate $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The court sentence requires him to complete 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management and pay $385 in fines and fees, according to the Chronicle. 

Gianforte’s booking comes a day after The Washington Post reported the congressman was expected to meet with Jacobs. 

“We’ve been in discussions for several weeks with Ben to make this meeting happen with Greg,” Gianforte’s communications director, Travis Hall, told the publication. 

“We’ve offered times to Ben to sit down with Greg when the House reconvenes after the district work period,” Hall said, referring to August recess.

Jacobs has said he would like to interview Gianforte in the future.