Democratic Congressman Mike Michaud says Republican Gov. Paul LePage has shown a "lack of judgment" by meeting several times with a group that is on the FBI's domestic terrorist watch list.
Michaud, who is also a candidate for governor, says he's especially concerned by reports that LePage allegedly discussed the execution of Democratic leaders at the State House with members of the group known as Sovereign Citizens.
Michaud says such comments, whether made in jest or not, have no place in public discourse and can lead to violence.
"I have a concern with the seriousness of this issue and my colleague, Gabby Giffords, who was shot in Arizona," Michaud says. "This type of behavior - this governor encourages that, whether they think it does or not. It does and it's wrong."
The revelations about the governor's meetings with Sovereign Citizens were only made public yesterday in a book published by a Democratic activist.
But staff of Democratic leadership had apparently been visited by members of the group, had received mailings from them and had notified Capitol Security about their concerns months ago. And Michaud says they should have been more forthcoming about those interactions.
