10/24/2018 02:06 PM EDT
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, October 24, 2018 Contact: Julie Rabinowitz, Press Secretary, 207-287-2531 AUGUSTA – Governor Paul R. LePage is filing his response to the lawsuit brought by Attorney General Janet Mills two weeks ago. Her lawsuit seeks to ensure taxpayers hand her a blank check to pay for her office. Governor LePage seeks transparency and accountability in the Attorney General Office’s bills. “The Attorney General’s billing is a secretive process and she refuses to use ethical and commonly acceptable legal billing practices,” stated Governor LePage.
“As I have noted in relation to the other lawsuits involving my administration and the Office of the Attorney General, Janet Mills refuses to answer to anyone, even the taxpayers who pay her salary and her pension,” Governor LePage said. “If she cannot manage to use sound fiscal management principals running a single agency, I question her ability to do so statewide. This is about transparency and accountability. Again, she has gone rogue, she continues to use unscrupulous business practices, and she thinks she is above the law.” The reply brief states: “Most Mainers would not pay bills that they cannot comprehend for charges that they cannot verify. For years, the Governor and his Administration have requested that the Office of the Attorney General update its billing practices. The request is simple: provide standardized bills that demonstrate the time spent by an attorney on a given matter and the charge associated with it.” See Governor LePage’s letter to Attorney General Mills and the reply brief below:
