Paul LePage defends hold up on public campaign funds
PORTLAND (AP) — Republican Gov. Paul LePage on Friday defended his refusal to release over $1 million in overdue public campaign funds to more than 120 legislative candidates and one gubernatorial hopeful.
LePage and his finance chief Alec Porteous argued in legal briefs that the courts can’t decide whether a governor should sign a financial order. Their lawyer argued that candidates have failed to prove that the hold on some public campaign funds will cause “irreparable harm” to their campaigns.
Several publicly financed candidates and an advocacy group are suing LePage and Porteous for refusing to sign routine financial orders this spring to release the money, which was due through June. The governor’s move left Maine’s ethics commission able to only pay out 26 percent of the $1.4 million it owed candidates for that period.
“The governor must follow the law and release the funding. There is no legal excuse for throwing the election into turmoil,” said John Brautigam, an attorney for the Maine Citizens for Clean Elections.
Read more: http://www.sunjournal.com/paul-lepage-defends-hold-up-on-public-campaign-funds/