GOP: Complaints About Anonymous Website 'Without Merit'

LEWISTON, Maine - The Maine Republican Party's executive director says an ethics claim alleging GOP involvement in a conservative website is "completely without merit.''
 
The Maine Democratic Party wants the Maine Ethics Commission to investigate alleged campaign finance violations by the Maine Examiner and the Maine GOP.
 
They accused the website of spreading misleading or false claims through a website masquerading as a news organization. They also accused the Maine Examiner of undermining Lewiston mayoral candidate Ben Chin, who lost a Dec. 12 runoff.
 
The Sun Journal newspaper pointed to GOP involvement because metadata on some of the photos indicates they came from GOP Executive Director Jason Savage. He said there's no merit to the allegations.
 
The Examiner began publishing in mid-September. It's not listed as a business organization with the secretary of state, and is written anonymously.