The Maine House voted mostly along party lines Wednesday to launch an ethics investigation into a southern Maine lawmaker who has been accused of assaulting his wife.
Rep. Lucas Lanigan of Sanford was charged with felony domestic assault in October after his wife reportedly accused him of strangulating her. She subsequently asked a judge to drop the charges against him. And Lanigan, a Republican first elected in 2022, said the allegations are false.
But as one of their first actions of the new legislative session, Democrats who control the House voted to direct the House Ethics Committee to investigate the allegations against Lanigan and report back to the full chamber. Democratic legislative leaders had previously called on Lanigan to resign his seat.
Rep. Matt Moonen, a Portland Democrat who serves as the House majority leader, said Lanigan is entitled to his day in court.
"However, the gravity of the allegations against Rep. Lanigan raise significant questions about whether he continues to hold the public's trust and the ethical and moral standing necessary to serve as a member of the Maine House of Representatives," Moonan said after introducing the order to direct the issue to the rarely used House Ethics Committee.
Republicans opposed the investigation.
Assistant Minority Leader Katrina Smith of Palermo said while the allegations against Lanigan are quote "very serious," she added that it was not the Legislature's role to usurp the role of the courts and the judicial branch.
"We as a body as entering a slippery slope," Smith said. "If we assume a posture that, regardless of the right to be innocent until proven guilty, then we are applying an unfair standard to members of this body."
In an interview on Wednesday, Lanigan said that in addition to the ethics vote, Democratic House Speaker Ryan Fecteau was punishing him by removing him from his only committee.
"Ironically, as members of the 132nd Legislature, we swore to uphold and enforce the constitution of the U.S. and Maine," Lanigan said. "Not only am I being charged, convicted and executed without due process the rights afforded to me by the constitution, I hope new information received by the DA this week will exonerate me and the charges will be dropped."
Lanigan won reelection to his seat representing several towns in the Sanford area by a single vote following a recount in a race that was tied after Election Day.
