Ethics panel expands Lewiston casino campaign probe
A failed campaign to establish a casino in Lewiston continues to draw scrutiny from state ethics officials who have widened their probe into finances surrounding the campaign.
On Thursday, the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices voted unanimously to expand its investigation into operations surrounding the 2011 attempt to establish a casino in downtown Lewiston according to the Sun Journal. At issue is whether partners in a limited liability company formed to operate the casino if the measure had passed were acting as a political action committee and therefore should have filed campaign finance reports.
The partners — out-of-state businessmen Dwayne Graham, Ryan Hill and Scott Nash — formed M5 and could face steep fines if the ethics panel finds they were acting as a PAC when they hired a political consultant to buy advertising and produce campaign material for the casino effort.
The consultant, Virginia-based Dome Messaging, is operated by Brent Littlefield, a political consultant for Gov. Paul LePage. According to a contract between M5 and Dome Messaging secured by the ethics panel, Littlefield would have been paid a $50,000 bonus if the measure had passed, in addition to the $10,000 he'd been paid for the campaign work.
Ethics officials took testimony last week from two Lewiston men who were backing the casino measure and operating separate PACs.
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