HELENA -- At age 18, Walter Schweitzer, the brother of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, cut his political teeth as a volunteer for the U.S. Senate campaign of future Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart in Colorado.

Now, 26 years later, Walter is still in the political game, but in a capacity that's sometimes raised a few eyebrows and set tongues wagging in Montana political circles: Adviser and confidante to his brother, the governor of Montana.

State law forbids the governor (or any other high-ranking state government official) from appointing close relatives to state jobs. Consequently, Walter cannot be part of the governor's paid, personal staff.

But the law hasn't stopped Walter from occasionally taking part in meetings of the governor's staff at the Capitol or acting as an apparent agent for the governor on issues as varied as school funding and energy policy.

"I'd describe myself more as a volunteer intern in the office, assisting (the governor's) staff in any way that I can,'' Walter Schweitzer said, in explaining his role. "I don't tell anybody what to do. I don't make any decisions.

"I'm just another set of ears up there. I'm helping my brother, who's the governor.''

He said he's also spearheading his brother's re-election campaign for 2008.

Gov. Schweitzer downplayed his brother's role, saying Walter has little or no role in the administration.

"He doesn't speak for the administration, he doesn't speak for me and I don't ask him to speak for me, unless it's on campaign matters,'' the governor said last week. "In terms of policy, he doesn't have a policy position.''

The governor said he speaks primarily with top staffers like Budget Director David Ewer, Chief of Staff Bruce Nelson and Policy Director Hal Harper on policy matters, and rarely with Walter.

Others don't quite see it that way, however, and say they believe Walter is a trusted adviser to his brother on public policy and other matters.

There's nothing inherently wrong with that, they say. But since Walter is a private citizen and not on the governor's staff, it raises the question of whom he represents, for whom he speaks, and to whom he's accountable.

"We don't know his job title; we don't know his responsibilities,'' said Bob Raney, a Democratic state Public Service Commissioner from Livingston who has met with Walter on energy issues. "What if it was any other person, who we know nothing about? What if some other governor had a confidante who went completely under the radar screen, yet directed government activity? It's dead wrong.''

"Everybody is asking the same question: What is his role?'' added state Sen.-elect Jim Peterson, R-Buffalo, who said Walter helped lobby members of the 2005 Legislature to vote for an ethanol bill supported by the governor. "He's obviously not just a bystander.''

Sources have told the Lee Newspapers State Bureau that Walter was involved in formulating school-funding policy before the December 2005 special legislative session; that he's met with energy industry officials at the Capitol; that he has taken part in occasional meetings discussing policy and political strategy; and that he called some film advisory council members on behalf of the governor this year to tell them the council had been dissolved.

Walter, 44, was a key figure on Brian Schweitzer' 2004 gubernatorial campaign, working first as campaign spokesman and later as his brother's scheduler. He also worked on his brother's unsuccessful 2000 campaign for U.S. Senate and helped Brian with the latter's Saudi Arabian farm-development business in the mid-1980s.

Both Brian and Walter worked for wealthy Saudi families in the 1980s, developing farm projects in the Arabian desert.

Walter and his wife, Cindy Palmer, have operated a farm and ranch south of Chester, and they run Black Angus cattle on the Schweitzer parents' property in Judith Basin County, near Geyser.

After Brian Schweitzer won the governor's race in 2004, Walter, Cindy and their two teen-age daughters moved from the family ranch south of Chester to Helena, where they have a house less than a block from the governor's mansion.

Public Service Commissioner-elect Ken Toole, a Helena Democrat who had a campaign fund-raiser hosted by Cindy Palmer at her and Walter's home in Helena this year, said he sees Walter as a close political ally and sometime adviser to his brother -- and that no one should be surprised about it.

People who occupy key positions on a campaign almost always end up as an adviser if the candidate wins, he said.

"The wrinkle here is the fact that he's the governor's brother and that the state nepotism law prevented him from taking a position within the administration,'' Toole said. "(But) there's no question in my mind who he's working for. Anyone who doesn't know that isn't paying attention. I don't think his role is unusual at all.''

Still, Toole said he understands why people might question how Walter is getting compensated, or if his income as a private citizen creates a possible conflict of interest.

In an interview with the Lee Newspapers State Bureau last week, Walter said his primary income comes from his ranching operation, which sells Black Angus bulls and replacement heifers. His in-laws, who live in Raynesford, help manage the operation, but he's there during the heavy work load, he added.

Walter said he's never been paid anything by the state or the Montana Democratic Party, although his wife, Cindy, worked for the party briefly.

Walter has two other businesses: Repower Montana, a small energy venture that's investigating a possible wind project in Judith Basin County, and Montana Consulting, a political consulting firm.

The campaign of Monica Lindeen, who ran for Congress this year in Montana, paid his consulting firm nearly $10,000 this year. Walter said he also did work for a dozen Democratic gubernatorial candidates this year, mostly advising on fund-raising efforts, and was paid primarily through the Democratic Governors' Association.

Gov. Schweitzer is recruitment chairman for the DGA.

Walter also helped recruit legislative candidates this year, advised some on campaign strategy and did the same in 2002, as a private consultant.

Jim Farrell, the party's executive director, said he talks to Walter about once a week and considers him both a close personal friend -- the two play on the same softball team -- and "one of the sharpest political minds in Montana.''

Walter has no formal role within the party. Farrell said it's not unusual for him to seek the advice from lots of people who are neither formally employed by the party nor working as volunteer leaders.

"The reality is most people with the most important advice in any party have no official role in the party,'' Farrell said. "I talk to many people who have no official role in the party to get good advice about the challenges that lie before us, (like) former office holders, formers leaders in the labor movement, campaign managers from elections held years ago. That's just a fact of life.''

Farrell said he does not see Walter as an extension of the governor's office.

Walter said there's no mystery about his political work or his political desires: He wants his brother to succeed as governor, and believes Gov. Schweitzer's agenda is good for the state.

"Basically, Brian's interests and mine parallel, and that (interest) is Montana,'' he said. "My accountability is whether or not he's successful.''

Walter said he and his brother want to improve the state's economy so young people and families can stay in Montana, which he considers a great place to raise a family and be part of a community.

"I have two teen-age daughters and I really, really would like them to have the opportunity to stay in Montana,'' he said, adding that he'd like to have his grandchildren grow up around him.

Walter also said his political work is an extension of what he's done since young adulthood.

He not only worked on Hart's U.S. Senate campaign in 1980, but also on Walter Mondale's presidential campaign in 1984, on Jesse Jackson's voter-registration drive in Montana and on an attempt to set up a public-interest research group at Montana State University while he was a student. Walter has a degree in agronomy from MSU.

"I've been politically involved all my life,'' he said. "And suddenly, now that my brother's the governor, I'm not supposed to be?''

Gov. Schweitzer calls Walter "a private citizen who happens to be my brother, and he's involved in political activity,'' but said Walter simply is not part of the administration, and that he sees no conflict of interest or ethical problems. "There's nothing sinister about this.''

When asked what Walter is doing at various staff meetings at the Capitol, the governor said Walter "has an active interest in the issue. He's not paid by the state of Montana in any way. He's not paid by anybody to be a lobbyist.''

While Walter describes his work as an "intern'' at the governor's office, it's apparent he's been involved in policy discussions and other administration tasks on many levels.

Last fall, before the December 2005 special legislative session on school funding, Walter helped guide negotiations on what sort of funding deal would be acceptable to the administration.

On the day before the special session convened, Walter presented the proposal to Democratic lawmakers meeting at party headquarters in Helena, according to a lawmaker who attended.

He also took part in meetings at the governor's office this summer with energy industry officials hoping to do business in Montana, said Rep. Alan Olson, R-Roundup.

Olson, who supports Gov. Schweitzer's efforts to foster coal development in eastern Montana, said he'd spoken to some of those officials after the meetings.

"They go in, and Walter's there at the table, discussing parts of their business,'' Olson said. "It just strikes everybody as odd.''

Raney said he met with Walter and two other gubernatorial staffers this year at the Capitol, hoping to convey to the administration things he'd learned in the past year on coal gasification and carbon sequestration -- two issues that the governor is trying to promote as part of ''clean coal'' development.

Raney had spent the last year as part of a "working group'' on the issues, including trips to Europe to meet with Dutch and German experts.

"My point was that if we're going to do this (clean coal development) now, we needed to get laws and rules in place for the coming Legislature,'' he said.

Raney said Walter "pretty much dismissed what I had to say,'' and seemed to be a point man for the administration: "He was in charge of the (last) meeting. No one goes into a meeting like that and doesn't feel like they're not talking as close to the governor as they can get.''

Democratic lawmakers, who didn't want their names used because they feared retribution from the Schweitzer administration, said they've attended policy and strategy meetings at the Capitol in 2005 and early 2006 where Walter seemed to be directing the meeting.

"If you just went to the meetings and didn't know he wasn't on the payroll, you'd assume he was on the governor's staff, helping guide policy and strategy for delivering it,'' said one lawmaker.

Two members of the Montana Film and Television Advisory Council, which was scrapped by Gov. Schweitzer this year after a political spat between the council and the Department of Commerce, also said Walter called them to tell them they'd been dismissed as members.

"He called us up to tell us that (the governor) was dissolving the council,'' said Patrick Markey, a film producer from Bozeman. "I never heard from the governor on it. I was very disappointed. (Walter) said he was calling on behalf of Brian.''

Some longtime Democrats in Montana say that Walter's role seems pretty normal, regardless of the details: He's an active Democrat promoting Democratic ideals, he's loyal to his brother and wants to better the state of Montana.

"I don't understand the noise being made about the (Brian's) relationship with (Walter),'' said state Sen. Jim Elliott, D-Trout Creek. "Maybe Walter has his own money, and maybe it's nobody's business. How petty can you get?''

Walter also mostly dismisses any notion that he's an insider who has some special position, or that he's in any way profiting from his relationship with his brother.

"It's unjustified (criticism) and not supported by the facts,'' he said. "It's the same people who complained about Brian wearing blue jeans who complained about Brian bringing his dog into the Capitol building. They're grasping at straws.''

-- Lee Newspaper State Bureau Chief Chuck Johnson contributed to this story.