Two rival advocacy groups are asking the Maine Attorney General's Office to investigate a telephone conference call involving several organizations that share an interest in immigration issues. The Maine Heritage Policy Center claims the Maine People's Alliance and other groups may have violated laws restricting the political activities of non-profits. But the Maine People's Alliance counters that the Heritage Policy Center may have violated criminal laws by secretly taping their conference call.
When the Maine Peoples Alliance, the NAACP, Maine Equal Justice Partners and others decided to hold a conference call last week on immigration issues, they never suspected that Steve Robinson, a reporter for the conservative-leaning Maine Heritage Policy Center's news-gathering wing, would also be on the line.
But Robinson was there - unbeknownst to the conference call participants. And the uninvited call crasher proceeded to record the conversation and then post the 54-minute discussion on YouTube titled: Maine's Liberal Activist Plot to Save Mike Michaud.
The MPA has asked the Maine Attorney General's Office to investigate the incident, to see if Robinson violated any criminal law that protects the participants' right to privacy.
Kelly McBride, of the Poynter Institute, specializes in journalistic ethics. She says she can't say whether any criminal laws were broken - but she has no doubts that ethical lines were crossed when Robinson conducted his surreptitious taping.
"You are, essentially, stealing something," she says. "You're stealing access to a meeting, or you're breaking into a meeting, in order to get information. In journalism, that is considered a breach of ethical standards."
Because the non-profit groups discussed potential responses to a Republican Governor's Association ad critical of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike Michaud, the Maine Heritage Policy Center says it now wants the Attorney General's Office to investigate the MPA and call participants. Specifically, the center wants to know if laws that restrict the political activities of non-profit organizations were violated during the call.
Calls made by MPBN to the Maine Heritage Policy Center for comment were not returned by air time. Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has confirmed that her office is evaluating both requests for an investigation.