ME lawmakers are expected to debate an impeachment order against Gov. Paul LePage Thursday over allegations of abuse of power. Here’s what you need to know. An independent investigation of that matter found that the administration withheld a quarterly payment to Good Will-Hinckley as the governor worked behind the scenes to fight the hiring of Eves.
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The motion calls for the creation of a legislative committee to investigate at least eight “allegations of misconduct” against LePage, according to bill sponsor and Democratic state Representative Ben Chipman.
Impeachment would be unprecedented in Maine. It also wouldn’t likely survive long as it would eventually go to the Republican-controlled Senate.
LePage, elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014, has maintained he did nothing wrong and the attacks on him are political and tantamount to a “witch hunt”. Some lawmakers insist the Legislature must take some sort of action, whether it’s censure or impeachment, to punish LePage for using his influence to pressure a charter school operator into rescinding a job offer to House Speaker Mark Eves, a Democrat. LePage held a rare press conference Friday to say the remark was “one slip” and that his statement wasn’t meant to single out race or a particular group of women.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills, a Democrat often at odds with LePage, reviewed the charges but found no basis for a criminal investigation. A spokeswoman for the governor has called the claims “frivolous”.
“Incidentally, half the time, they impregnate a young white girl before they leave, which is real sad because now we have another issue that we gotta deal with down the road”.
This is why many have compared him with Donald Trump although LePage grew up as homeless for a couple of years before he managed to earn a college degree and get in business and politics. “Historically, the US president also delivered a written message to Congress until President Wilson began delivering it live”, Steele said. He made headlines when he told reporters in a news conference that he would tell even the U.S. President to “go to hell.’ Additionally, in 2011 he told a chapter leader from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to kiss his butt”.
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Maine’s governor has offended many with his abrasive comments and hard-nosed political tactics.
