Did you see Governor LePage’s statement?
Governor LePage is appealing his lawsuit against Janet Mills to the Supreme Court.
Not only is it concerning that Mills entered into a federal lawsuit without direction from the Legislature or the Governor as required by law, but the Governor points out that we do not know how Janet Mills paid for her work on the federal lawsuit.
Janet Mills’ rogue behavior is not only concerning, it’s just plain shady.
See Governor LePage’s full statement below:
Governor LePage Will Appeal Mills Lawsuit to Supreme Court
For Immediate Release: Monday, October 22, 2018
Contact: Julie Rabinowitz, Press Secretary, 207-287-2531
AUGUSTA–Governor Paul R. LePage announced today that he will appeal Friday’s decision by Justice Michaela Murphy in his lawsuit asking the asking the Superior Court to find that the Attorney General exceeded her authority by bringing a federal suit in a different state on behalf of the people of Maine without being directed to do so by the Governor or Legislature.
“I am suing Attorney General Janet Mills because she has refused to follow the law in representing the Governor’s Office, and she has explicitly broken the law by suing the federal government in another state without direction from either the Legislature or the Governor,” stated Governor LePage. “The Attorney General acts as if she is her own branch of government instead of a department head subject to the direction of the duly elected Legislature. The Democrats in the Legislature are obviously afraid to rein her in so it is left to me once again to call out rogue and unscrupulous behavior when I see it.”
The Governor continued, “Furthermore, since she enters into these lawsuits without authorization from the Legislature or the Governor, I question how she is paying for them since there is no appropriation or financial order to cover the expense. Since we cannot obtain a clear record of time and billing from her office, I can only assume that she is covering the costs of these lawsuits with funds that were not appropriated for that purpose. Her rogue behavior, refusal to respect the authority of the Legislature or the Governor of the State of Maine, and lack of transparency around time and money show that she is not a solution for what needs fixing in state government, she is the problem. She represents the cronyism that I’ve been fighting to clean up for eight years.”
“Unfortunately, this case has been on Justice Murphy’s desk awaiting a decision since May, and it is clear she delayed issuing a ruling–until challenged by my attorneys–so the appeal would not be heard until after the election,” added Governor LePage.
Justice Murphy’s decision states: “Here, the Governor argues that the Attorney General exceeded her authority by participating in a federal action on behalf of the State. The Governor cites to the language of the statute, suggesting not unreasonably that the language is clear and unambiguous.”
The decision is available here (scroll to bottom of press release web page).
