Four members of Maine's House of Representatives formally asked the state's attorney general to open a criminal investigation into allegations of abuse of power by Gov. Paul LePage. The three Democrats and one independent told Attorney General Janet Mills, in a letter dated Friday, that LePage has established a pattern of abuse during his five years as governor and should be investigated for crimes involving extortion, improper influence, oppression and misuse of entrusted property, reported the Associated Press.
The four lawmakers accused LePage of threatening the head of the state's community college system, stymieing voter-approved conservation projects and blocking the hiring of a political enemy, according to the Portland Press Herald.
"We have to stand up to him," said Democratic Rep. Ben Chipman of Portland. "That is what the people of Maine want. We've remained silent for too long. It's about time that we stood up and held him accountable for his actions."
The other lawmakers are Democrats Charlotte Warren of Hallowell and Pinny Beebe-Center of Rockland, and independent Rep. Jeff Evangelos of Friendship.
Along with asking Mills to investigate whether LePage committed a crime, the lawmakers also requested the appointment of a special prosecutor, and asked Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney to prosecute the governor for oppression, noting that LePage lives in her prosecutorial district, according to the Bangor Daily News.
"We believe the full faith and confidence of Maine people in our justice system is at stake if our chief law enforcement officials fail to act to uphold the law and our oaths of office in reference to the actions and conduct of Paul LePage," wrote Evangelos.
He added Monday night: "We've all been eyewitnesses to the unfolding of one abuse after another. The abuses came incrementally, but taken as a whole there has been a clear pattern of abuse. Five years ago it went from amusing (behavior) to what it is now, outrageous. Most people in the state now realize something is horribly wrong."
The lawmakers said the most blatant example of LePage's executive overstep came when he admitted to meddling in the hiring of a political enemy, House Speaker Mark Eves, who was offered a job as president at Good Will-Hinckley. LePage threatened to withhold discretionary state funds for the organization unless Eves' offer was rescinded. The offer was eventually withdrawn and Eves sued LePage.
"We feel that the governor broke the law when he leveraged public funds," said Chipman.
The lawmakers also accused LePage of threatening to withhold state money from Maine's Community College system unless President John Fitzsimmons was fired, establishing a secret commission to investigate the Maine Human Rights Commission, and obstructing voter-approved conservation bonds under the Land for Maine's Future program, according to the Press Herald.
The lawmakers said they are also drafting an impeachment order.
