AUGUSTA — The Maine ethics commission opted Thursday to drop a possible investigation into allegations that a state GOP official behaved improperly when he created a website to deliver news with a conservative slant without disclosing his role. That site, the Maine Examiner, drew attention in December when it revealed internal campaign emails from Lewiston […]
Maine Examiner
Posted inMaine, sj-web
GOP leader Jason Savage says controversial website is his, but denies ties to party
AUGUSTA — The executive director of the Maine Republican Party, Jason Savage, admitted to a state ethics panel that he is the owner and operator of the secretive Maine Examiner website that published leaked emails from unsuccessful Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin’s campaign. Savage’s attorneys said the GOP official runs the site “in his free […]
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Posted inMaine, News, sj-web
LePage says he doesn't know anything about the Maine Examiner
The online Maine Examiner, which is in the middle of a political spat between Democrats and Republicans, remains a mystery to Gov. Paul LePage. During an interview with Maine Public’s “Maine Calling” radio show Tuesday, the governor denied any knowledge of the conservative-oriented website at the center of an ethics complaint filed by the Maine […]
Posted inOur View, sj-web
Anonymity is bad for voters
Let’s be real. Despite claims by the Maine Democratic Party, the Maine Examiner did not single-handedly sink Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin’s campaign last month. The Examiner certainly took a position, and a self-interested one at that, in what has historically been a nonpartisan race. But that is what politics is all about. Winning the seat. […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine ethics panel will consider Democratic complaint about GOP
AUGUSTA — The Maine Republican Party denied Friday that it has anything to do with the secretive Maine Examiner. Despite online evidence that the party’s executive director had ties to the website that helped torpedo Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin’s campaign in December, the GOP said the Examiner “was not created or operated by, or […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Cutler Files case may provide precedent for ethics complaint about Maine Examiner
AUGUSTA — A 2010 case in which Maine’s ethics commission slapped a $200 fine on the purveyor of a politically oriented website cloaked in anonymity suddenly seems relevant again. As Democrats and Republicans clash over the secretive Maine Examiner online site that helped contribute to the defeat of a Lewiston Democrat in last month’s mayoral […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine GOP says Democratic ethics complaint ‘completely without merit’
AUGUSTA — The Maine Republican Party’s executive director said Thursday that a Democratic ethics complaint against the GOP is “completely without merit.” Denying any wrongdoing, Jason Savage said the Republicans “are extremely diligent about reporting all expenditures in a timely manner.” Meanwhile, more evidence has emerged tying Savage to an anonymous website that spreads news […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Democrats cry foul as photos tie GOP to Maine Examiner
[UPDATE: More ties discovered between Maine GOP’s director and a secretive website] AUGUSTA — Shortly after lunch on the first Monday of December, Maine Republican Party Executive Director Jason Savage copied an online photograph of Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin onto his computer. Savage’s copied picture, titled “chin-profile-two,” wound up illustrating a story that ran the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Ben Chin responds to leaked emails
LEWISTON — Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin responded Monday to internal campaign emails that were leaked to a conservative website in which Chin describes, in one communication, encountering a “bunch of racists” while campaigning this year. One of the emails, written in June, was published by the website The Maine Examiner over the weekend and […]