Sen. Diamond calls LePage officials’ refusal to appear before GOC ‘unacceptable’

Sen. Bill Diamond of Windham

AUGUSTA — Sen. Bill Diamond, a Democrat from Windham and member of the Government Oversight Committee, released the following statement in response to LePage administration officials’ refusal to appear before the committee to answer questions as part of its investigation into the governor’s threats to Good Will-Hinckley’s funding related to the hiring, and firing, of House Speaker Mark Eves as its president.

“We are disappointed that key officials in the governor’s office will not appear before the Government Oversight Committee to answer questions,” Diamond said. “Their cooperation is important to get the complete truth,” Diamond said. “Using the pending court action as an excuse to block critical information for the public is unacceptable. The GOC, in a totally bipartisan effort, unanimously requested the investigation by OPEGA. Now, in order to complete that investigation, it is imperative that we talk with those who actually know what happened. The public deserves nothing less.”

The Government Oversight Committee may exercise subpoena authority to compel government officials to appear to answer questions, as it has done in previous cases. Last year, five LePage officials from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention initially refused to answer the committees questions, but provided sworn testimony after receiving subpoenas.

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