Gov. Paul LePage continues to tangle with legal professionals.
On Wednesday, he called a federal judge an imbecile, four times that we know of. At issue is the judge’s decision to let move forward a lawsuit against President Donald Trump in which a stay by LePage in Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel in 2017 before meeting with the president is being held up as evidence.
The lawsuit from the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia claims Trump is violating the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which essentially bars the president from personal gains — like bookings in his hotel by people in Washington for official business — as a result of his office.
U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, ruled that the lawsuit could continue.
“I didn’t realize I could buy the president so cheap, a night in his hotel and he’s in my back pocket,” LePage said, according to CBS affiliate WGME. “The judge that did that is imbecile. He’s a complete imbecile.”
Trump and representatives of his business empire have denied the allegations but as far as we know haven’t publicly called any judges imbeciles.
Whatever happens with the lawsuit, it represents another chapter in a long story about LePage’s legal tangles during his term in office. He has joined federal lawsuits on a number of issues, such as earlier this week when he joined a federal lawsuit against California over “sanctuary” laws involving immigrants, sued the federal government on behalf of some of his welfare reform initiatives, and sued Maine Attorney General Janet Mills for refusing to defend him in matters she deemed unwinnable or unconstitutional. Often, he joins federal lawsuits as an individual because Mills, as Maine’s top legal official, refuses to allow the state to back lawsuits that she deems to lack legal merit or which challenge rulings she supports.
And then, of course, there have been numerous lawsuits against LePage on a range of issues, including former House speaker and current gubernatorial candidate Mark Eves’ suit against LePage for forcing Eves out of a job at Good Will-Hinckley. LePage is also tangled up in Maine Superior Court over his sudden closure last month of Downeast Correctional Facility in Machiasport and has been sued by the ACLU for blocking critics on his Facebook page.
The proceedings have come at considerable cost. The Associated Press reported earlier this month that LePage has spent at least $110,000 on outside legal representation since last fall and more than $500,000 in the past four years. Those numbers are inflated at least partially because of Mills’ refusal to involve her office in his lawsuits. Another factor is language in last year’s state budget bill that eliminated a number of attorney positions in the Department of Health and Human Services. A week ago, LePage proposed a new bill that seeks nearly $650,000 in state money to refill the positions.
Nationally, the case against Trump will decide if the president is benefiting from his power and position. Here in Maine, it doesn’t take a judge or jury to understand that, under LePage, the legal profession has benefitted mightily.
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