AUGUSTA — The Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee kicked off what was expected to be a lengthy day of interviews in the Good Will-Hinckley matter Thursday, with an 11-1 vote that all testimony would be taken under oath.
Nine individuals were expected to testify throughout the day Thursday, including two members of Gov. Paul LePage’s administration who were subpoenaed after they declined to participate in the probe. Those two, LePage attorney Cynthia Montgomery and education adviser Aaron Chadbourne, were expected to testify first. Because of the subpoenas, their testimony was to be under oath by law.
“I don’t believe there was any mention of having them have to be here under oath,” Rep. Deborah Sanderson, R-Chelsea, said. “I feel a little funny about that now, deciding as a committee that we are going to put them under oath.”
Chadbourne said during testimony that despite statements to the contrary made by other witnesses in this case, he played no role in communicating to anyone that LePage had threatened to withhold state funding from Good Will-Hinckley if the organization hired House Speaker Mark Eves. Chadbourne said that if anyone inferred from his statements anything about funding, it was not because he intended to communicate that.
“I did not at any time reference the funding nor at any time was I aware of this source of public funding for [Good Will-Hinckley],” Chadbourne said.
Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio, D-Sanford, engaged in an aggressive line of questioning of Chadbourne.
“People remember things happening that you don’t remember happening,” Mastraccio said, referring to Good Will-Hinckley board Chairman Jack Moore and a lobbyist for the organization. “We asked [Moore] and in his mind, Good Will-Hinckley’s funding was in jeopardy, and that was conveyed to him by you.”
“It is not something I ever spoke to him about or said any words about,” Chadbourne said.
The probe of the LePage administration’s role in the firing of Eves by Good Will-Hinckley started during the summer after allegations LePage threatened to withhold public funds from the Maine Academy of Natural Sciences, a public charter school run by the organization.
The Government Oversight Committee voted unanimously in July to launch an investigation by the nonpartisan legislative watchdog agency, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability. That agency conducted an investigation which confirmed the governor’s role in having Eves fired.
LePage has maintained that his office did nothing illegal or unethical and that the Government Oversight Committee’s probe amounts to a “witch hunt” by the governor’s political rivals.
The committee’s work has continued since then, including lengthy interviews of some of the witnesses involved. Last month, Good Will-Hinckley Board Chairman Jack Moore confirmed that LePage’s threat was what led to Eves’ ouster. After that testimony, a majority of the committee voted to invite several more witnesses to Thursday’s hearing and subpoena two members of the LePage administration who previously refused to participate in the probe.
The Government Oversight Committee’s task is fact-finding. If there is to be any action taken by lawmakers against LePage, it would have to originate in the Legislature.
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