AUGUSTA– Despite protest by Sara Gideon’s lawyer, the Maine Ethics Commission will review Gideon Leadership PAC bank records after more than $3,200 in unreported expenditures through her corporate-funded PAC.

This is not an isolated incident for Speaker Sara Gideon, who has also been fined by the Maine Ethics Commission for her illegal “straw-donor” scheme, where she made political donations to federal candidates in her own name, then reimbursed herself from her corporate-funded PAC.

The Gideon Leadership PAC received the largest “adjustment” in the history of the Maine Ethics Commission just before Gideon launched her U.S. Senate Campaign. The focus of today’s hearing was on more than $3,000 in Facebook ads that went unreported, including ads that attacked Senator Susan Collins, that reached over 500,000 Mainers.

“Throughout her time in Augusta, Sara Gideon has shown a pattern of unethical behavior with her corporate-funded PAC,” said Chair Dr. Demi Kouzounas. “Once again the Maine Ethics Commission has taken issue with her misuse of funds and wrongful reporting. Sara Gideon continues to try every play in the book to illegally influence Maine politics, and we will not stand idly by and let that happen.”

“We look forward to the findings in the investigation of Gideon’s Leadership PAC. The people of Maine deserve a look into how Sara Gideon’s shady PAC has operated over the last several year. Until then, we will continue to expose her brazen ethics violations at the state and federal levels.”