PORTLAND, Maine - An attorney for House Speaker Mark Eves says that Gov. Paul LePage is using state funding to enforce political loyalty and that the practice threatens Maine's public-party democracy.
Attorney David Webbert, in a brief filed in U.S. District Court, says that LePage's claim that he has a right to withhold funding from a charter school represents a "radical'' legal theory that, if left unchecked by the courts, would concentrate too much power in the governor's hands.
The brief is part of a lawsuit Eves filed against LePage alleging the governor threatened to withdraw $530,000 in state funding to prevent Eves' hiring as president of the Good Will-Hinckley in Fairfield.
LePage filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit last month. His attorney declined to comment and said he'll reply by the March 1 deadline.