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LePage Attorney Argues that Federal Court Should Deny Eves' Appeal

The attorney for Maine Gov. Paul LePage argues that a federal court should deny House Speaker Mark Eves’ appeal of a lawsuit against the governor.

Eves’ lawsuit alleges that the governor acted illegally when he threatened to withhold state funding to a private nonprofit unless the organization fired Eves as its next president.

But in a recent filing with First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Patrick Strawbridge, the governor’s attorney, says the dispute is inherently political - and should be settled that way.

Strawbridge also argues that a U.S. District Court judge properly dismissed Eves’ lawsuit when the judge determined the governor’s actions in the Good Will-Hinckley controversy were protected by the so-called immunity clause. That’s the legal concept that essentially protects elected officials from civil lawsuits.

Eves’ attorney, David Webbert, appealed the decision in July, arguing that federal courts have upheld civil rights lawsuits between political opponents. Webbert has asked the appeals court to void the ruling and provide the legal framework to reconsider the case.

“Gov. LePage’s continuing pattern of lawless conduct makes it essential for the federal courts to hold him accountable for his blatant violations of the constitutional and civil rights of Maine people,” Webbert says in a statement.

Webbert adds that LePage’s “unprecedented theory of sweeping executive powers” poses a direct threat to the Maine Constitution and its system of checks and balances on the power of the governor and the independence of private organizations.

Oral arguments before a three-judge panel could take place this fall.

Journalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.