Comment on Two Aroostook County lawmakers want LePage investigated over alleged abuse of power

Two Aroostook County lawmakers want LePage investigated over alleged abuse of power

Two Democratic lawmakers from Aroostook County are asking the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee to investigate whether Gov. Paul LePage threatened to withhold state funds in 2013 from the World Acadian Congress unless its president stepped down. Reps. Roland “Danny” Martin of Sinclair and Robert Saucier of Presque Isle sent a letter Tuesday requesting an investigation by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability, the watchdog agency that reports to the oversight committee. Their letter details allegations in a blog post last week by liberal activist Mike Tipping of the Maine People’s Alliance that LePage said he would withhold $500,000 in state funding for the 2014 World Acadian Congress unless then-board president Jason Parent stepped down. The World Acadian Congress is an international festival celebrating Acadian culture that takes place every five years, most recently in 2014 at locations in northern Maine and eastern Canada. Parent, a well-known and well-regarded civic leader, did resign in April 2013 but made no mention of any threats at that time. However, Tipping wrote last week that Parent told him the governor made financial threats to the board, in part because Parent awarded a commemorative license plate to then-U.S.

 

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