Six independent and Democratic Maine lawmakers plan on starting impeachment proceedings against Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R), reported the Bangor Daily News. LePage is accused of preventing state Democratic House Speaker Mark Eves from working at the Good Will-Hinckley School.
“I’m asking my fellow legislators to study abuse of authority, conduct unbecoming and possible misuse of public assets,” said state Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos (I). “I believe that Gov. LePage has violated his authority by intimidating a private entity with the end objective of violating speaker Eves’ civil rights, his ability to seek outside employment and provide for his family.”
LePage and Eves are political opponents, and LePage is accused of threatening to cut the Good Will-Hinckley School’s funding by $500,000 if the school didn’t rescind its job offer to Eves. The Good Will-Hinckley school is a school for at-risk children who face “complex academic, social, behavioral and emotional challenges.”
According to WCSH, an NBC affiliate in Portland, the governor’s office released a statement yesterday addressing the accusations, but not denying them.
“To provide half-a-million dollars in taxpayer funding to a charter school that would be headed by Maine’s most vehement anti-charter-school politician is not only the height of hypocrisy, it is totally unacceptable,” read the statement.
The statement sounds more like political posturing than a statement of innocence. It only bashed Eves to make him look unworthy of running the school for at-risk youth.
Eves was hired earlier this month to run the school and the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, which is a charter school affiliated with the Good Will-Hinckley School. He was supposed to start next week.
“The governor has didn’t [sic] lot of things we would characterize as out of bounds, this one crosses a new line, one that goes outside the political world into my personal live and my ability to provide for my family,” said Eves.
“When he didn’t get his way he decided to use taxpayer money to get his way and fire the Speaker, and most people would agree that’s a line a governor should not cross, and not a line federal law allows a governor to cross, so he broke federal law,” said David Wibbert, Eves’ lawyer.
Despite the harsh allegations, Gov. LePage hasn’t apologized or admitted to any wrongdoing. LePage’s legal counsel delivered an adversarial message to Eves and his attorney.
“For all of his grandstanding in the media, Mr. Webbert has not yet filed a lawsuit against the governor,” said attorney Cynthia Montgomery. “Our reaction: bring it on.”
LePage’s alleged antics echo the felonious actions of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), who was accused of one felony count of abuse of power. These Republican egos are dangerous, and usually lead into questionable, if not illegal, behaviors.
