Senator Angus King on the insurrection and accountability

I spoke with Senator Angus King (I-ME) last night about the attack on the Capitol and his views on how to ensure accountability for those who incited it, and not just the president. 

He also told of his personal experiences at the Capitol on Jan. 6, including his reluctance to bunker with a horde of Senators and their staff, some of whom don't like to follow Covid-19 health guidance. 

The interview is in today's Portland Press Herald and online.

Senator Susan Collins and Rep. Jared Golden have declined interview requests. For Rep. Chellie Pingree's views on accountability, see this piece on the House resolution to investigate members of the sedition caucus.

Impeachment: Maine's delegation, save Collins, demands Trump's immediate removal

Three of Maine's four Congressional representatives are now on record demanding Trump's immediate removal from office for his role in the insurrection and terrorist attacks against Congress and the U.S. Capitol last week.

Senator Angus King (I) weighed in today in a statement blasting Trump as a danger to the republic and calling out the 147 members of Congress's "sedition caucus" who, hours after the deadly attack, voted to, in effect, end democracy by overturning a democratic election lost by the president. Details in this Press Herald story from a few hours ago.

Senator Susan Collins, New England's only remaining Republican Congressional representative, has said she will not be commenting on impeachment because of her role as a "juror" in the Senate trial that will follow.

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME01) was ahead of the rest of the delegation, calling for Trump's removal almost immediately after the attack and co-sponsoring a House resolution to investigate the sedition caucus and consider removal via the 14th Amendment. Details in this Press Herald story.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME02) didn't reveal his position until last night, but when he did it was a direct and unequivocal condemnation of the president. (Golden just won a second term in a district that went for Trump by 7 points.)

[Update, 1/13/21: Pingree and Golden voted for impeachment this afternoon. Trump became the first president in history to be impeached twice with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in a 232-197 vote.]

Maine's US Senators seek federal response to warming Gulf of Maine

Last week I reported on Canadian researchers having found record-warm water pouring into the primary deepwater entrance to the Gulf of Maine and Maine scientists confirming that they've seen similar, Gulf Stream-derived water filling some of the Gulf's deepwater basins -- all worrying signs that the region's stunning long-term warming trend is continuing.

Earlier this week, I had this update: US Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Angus King (I-Maine) have written the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asking for a beefed-up federal research and monitoring response to determine causes and effects. The rest of Maine's Congressional delegation -- Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME2) and Chellie Pingree (D-ME1) -- said they also strongly support the senator's actions.

Details herein.

For more on the warming of the Gulf, consider this comprehensive Press Herald series on the issue, plus this follow-up on how little the State of Maine has done to address it.

Senator King warns of Russian cyber threat to 2018 midterms

Senator Angus King, I-Maine, came by the Press Herald newsroom last week for a wide-ranging, on-record conversation with myself and my colleagues about everything from the state of the immigration debate to prospects for modest gun control legislation on Capitol Hill and even why he's not interested in joining the Democrats, who he caucuses with.

But the most pressing issue he wanted to talk about was the ongoing threat posed by Russian cyber attacks on our election infrastructure, which he says remain insufficiently addressed ahead of the 2018 midterms. The President, he argues, has not only declined to marshall a cross-government response, he's made matters worse by encouraging the public to regard Russian attacks as a hoax.

It's all in the piece, which ran in yesterday's print edition.

For more background on King's concerns with attacks on our election systems, there's this piece from an extended interview I did with the senator last year. On Maine's system -- relatively invulnerable to such attacks because of its intentionally low-tech design -- start with this interview with the state's top election's official, Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap.

Around Acadia National Park, many await Congressional fixes on boundary limits, fishing rights

In this past edition of the Maine Sunday Telegram, I wrote about legislation waiting attention on Capitol Hill that would resolve tensions over a variety of issues around Acadia National Park here in Maine. Among them: the right of clam and worm diggers to harvest in the mudflats adjacent to park property and making a maximum park boundary line negotiated back in 1986 more "real," after park officials ignored it in a recent expansion. The bill is bipartisan, with identical versions submitted in the Senate by Angus King (an independent who caucuses with the Democrats) and in the House by Rep. Bruce Poliquin (a Republican often allied with Maine Gov. Paul LePage.)

All that in the article.

For more background on Maine's nutty inter-tidal property/access/harvesting laws, see this feature I did a few years back.

[Update, 11/9/17: The bill is finally moving forward, with revisions.]

On the non-profit that ended debtors prison (and a whole bunch more) in Maine

Greetings on another awful mass-shooting morning in America, this time in Las Vegas. Remember this doesn't happen this frequently in any other advanced industrial democracy when you hear there's nothing that can be done on the policy front.

Largely unrelated: in yesterday's Maine Sunday Telegram, I wrote about Pine Tree Legal Assistance, the legal aid non-profit that ended debtors prison in Maine, spearheaded what became the Indian land claims settlement here (and opened up federal recognition for hundreds of tribes), exposed the national "robo-signing" home mortgage foreclosure scandal, and is celebrating their 50th anniversary later this week. Poor people still often don't get a fair shake in our legal system, but boy was it worse in 1967 when PTLA arrived on the scene. Details herein.

I've done a few history-minded pieces for the Press Herald and Telegram in recent months, including on former Maine US Senator Bill Cohen's critical role in the Watergate scandal (when Susan Collins was one of his junior staffers), the extensive Maine ties of the long-dead founder of the American Nazi Party (who neo-Nazis revere), and the strange early history of Maine and seacoast New Hampshire.

Sens. Collins, King warn Trump not to interfere with Mueller probe

In tomorrow's Portland Press Herald, I have this story on Senator Susan Collins' warning to President Trump regarding his implied threat to interfere with or fire Robert Mueller, the Justice Department's Special Counsel looking into the Trump campaign's Russia ties.

Collins says such a move would be an "extraordinarily serious mistake."

Senator Angus King, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, and Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-1) also warned against interfering with the investigation. Republican Rep. Bruce Poloquin (ME-2) was the odd-man out, dodging the question altogether.

Details herein.

After first Trump voter fraud meeting, Maine's Dunlap keeping open mind

If you've been wondering what's happening with President Donald Trump's controversial voter fraud commission, look no further than today's Portland Press Herald, where I cover their first meeting.

Among the commissioners is Maine's (Democratic) Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who said he's not going to pre-judge the panel. He also told me he'd agreed with his fellow panelists and commission chair Vice President Mike Pence not to have the body look at Russian infiltration of state election infrastructure after all.

Dunlap also declined to endorse Sen. Angus King's urgently-argued recommendations that all states use voting machines with paper trails and that scientific audits be held to detect tampering.

Details herein.

I last wrote about Dunlap and the commission when it demanded states provide extensive personal information on voters, and before that when Dunlap called for the commission to consider the Russia angle.

[Update, 11/18/17: Dunlap has now sued the commission and asked for an injunction. For more updated coverage, start here.]

Sen. Collins opposes Senate health bill

In today's Portland Press Herald, I report on how Maine's U.S. Senators have reacted to the latest Republican Senate health care bill.

Both oppose it in no uncertain terms, with Senator Susan Collins' opposition a complicating factor for  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as she is a fellow Republican. Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also opposes it. Details herein.

Earlier this week I reported on Collins and King's reaction to the revelations that the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., met with a Russian lawyer with Kremlin ties for the express purpose of getting dirt from her on Hillary Clinton. Both want the presidential son to testify before the senate intelligence committee, which they both serve on. Details here.

Sen. King, experts say not enough being done to prevent Russian attacks on state election systems

Last week I talked to Senator Angus King, I-Maine, and other experts about the Russian attacks on state electoral systems. Their message: the threat was real, it continues, and not enough is being done to prevent a potential Election Day disaster.

I report on all this in this article in yesterday's Maine Sunday Telegram. Another item of note: one of the leading electoral cybersecurity experts in the country says we can't rule out vote tallies having been effected last November, absent a forensic audit of those voting machines that we can actually audit.

On Friday, I reported on how two members of President Trump's commission on electoral fraud -- one of them Maine's secretary of state -- want that body to take up the hacking of state systems. For further coverage on the Russia-and-the-2016 Election story, click on the "Russia" label at the bottom of any of these stories.

Maine's senators and the Comey Hearing

The big news in Washington this week has been the public hearing in which former FBI director James Comey testified under oath about his interactions with President Donald Trump, who fired him one month ago today.

I had two stories on this in the past 24 hours. Today's Press Herald story hopefully tells you everything you need to know about Senator Angus King and Senator Susan Collins's roles in and reaction to the hearing. Both Maine senators sit on the senate intelligence committee, which is conducting a probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election and before which Comey appeared yesterday.

In yesterday's Press Herald, I had this round-up of expert thoughts on what to look out for in the hearing and with Comey's testimony, including input from Sarah Kendzior, William Yeomans, and former US attorney Jay McCloskey.

Bill Cohen on Watergate and today

In this week's Maine Sunday Telegram, I talk to former US Senator and Secretary of Defense William Cohen and several of his former aides about what it was like to hold a president of his own party accountable during Watergate.

In the summer of 1974, Cohen was a first-term Republican congressman from Maine's second district and was one of the first to break with his party to further the probing of Richard Nixon's White House tapes. His summer intern was a 21-year old college student named Susan Collins, who would, decades later, marry Cohen's then-chief-of-staff, Tom Daffron. (Also on Capitol Hill that summer: Maine's other current senator, Angus King, who was an aide to Sen. Bill Hathaway (D-Maine.))

What did Cohen and his staff experience that summer, and what do they see when they compare then and now? Read on.

Collins mum, King alarmed by Trump's shifting explanation on Comey firing

In Friday's Portland Press Herald, I had a follow up on how Maine's two US Senators -- both of whom sit on the committee leading the key probe into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia -- were reacting to President Trump's shifting explanation for why he fired FBI Director James Comey. On television, Trump said he planned to fire the director regardless of what the Justice Department thought, and made remarks that suggested the FBI investigation of Trump and Russia that Comey was overseeing had something to do with it.

The senators had very different stances.

When asked, Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, promptly sent a statement expressing concern and alarm over the president's "bizarre" statements. Republican Senator Susan Collins -- whose initial statement on the Comey firing accepted and defended the President's original, now discarded explanation -- declined to comment, even though the senator's language has shifted and toughened in more recent public statements on the firing.

More in the story.

[Update, 5/18/17: Here's what Collins had to say about the revelation that Comey wrote memos describing Trump asking him to stop part of his Russia probe from today's Press Herald.]

For more coverage on the Russia-Trump investigation and Maine's senators, click the Russia label here at World Wide Woodard.

Collins ok with Trump firing Comey, while King calls for him to head Senate investigation

Maine's US Senators have a key role in the investigation of the Trump campaign's contacts with and ties to Russia. They both sit on the senate intelligence committee, possibly the only viable probe remaining that might get to the bottom of this issue, and they've generally provided a common front in arguing that it can and will proceed in a professional and bipartisan manner.

But last night's explosive development -- Trump's firing of FBI director James Comey, who was overseeing that agency's own probe of the issue -- appears to have shattered that unity.

As I reported last night and in today's print edition of the Portland Press Herald, the two are taking very different stances on what may be the most explosive development in US politics since President Nixon fired Archibald Cox during the Watergate investigation. Collins -- like Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-ME2) is ok with the firing -- while King (like Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME1) -- is sounding the alarms.

Actually, King went a step further this morning, suggesting the senate committee should hire Comey to head their probe. I have the story on that up at the Press Herald now as well.

[Update, 5/11/17: In the last story, Susan Collins is now the lead because she's said she's considering supporting having the current deputy AG appoint a special counsel for the investigation, a move King described earlier in the day as not helpful in restoring public confidence.]

Amid criticism, Sens. Collins, King defend Senate probe of Trump-Russia ties

This past week saw multiple stories suggesting trouble afoot with the Senate intelligence committee's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including its ties to the Trump campaign and his inner circle. Stories in Reuters, Yahoo News, and the Daily Beast cited committee staffers and members concerned it is delayed, understaffed, and stymied by partisanship.

In today's Maine Sunday Telegram, I ask Maine's senators -- both of whom sit on the committee -- what they think. Both are defending the probe. Details herein.

I've been covering the investigation with some regularity, including the senators' previous affirmations (after the House investigation's credibility collapsed under Rep. Nunes in early April), their concerns with chairman Sen. Burr's actions in March; their intention to include former National Security Advisor Flynn's contacts in their investigation in February.

Sen. King says Gorsuch would return US jurisprudence to the early 1930s

In yesterday's Portland Press Herald, I reported on Sen. Angus King's announcement that he will oppose Neil Gorsuch's elevation to the Supreme Court.

The senator's statement was a long, detailed, and hard hitting brief against President Trump's nominee, who he believes will try to return American jurisprudence to its "pre-1935" state, when there were far fewer protections for ordinary people against what we would now call the one percent. Given that King is a pro-business Independent -- and a lawyer by profession -- it's a pretty strong rebuke. It also means Maine's Senators are splitting on the issue, as Republican Susan Collins is supporting the nominee.

Details in the story.

As Russia probe pressures intensify, Sens. King and Collins remain confident in their committee

As the U.S House's investigation of Russia's interference in the 2016 election collapsed this week -- and new revelations shook those following closely -- Maine's senators Angus King (I) and Susan Collins (R) expressed renewed confidence that their Senate investigation will get to the bottom of the issues, including possible collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

I have the round-up in today's Maine Sunday Telegram.

You should really pick up the paper today, as the ongoing "Lost" series on the opioid epidemic in Maine continues, this time focusing on the repercussions in the lobstering community. Yesterday's installment focused on one hard hit southern Maine town, Sanford. Proud of my Press Herald colleagues for what they've put together.

Maine internet providers condemn Congress' drive to kill privacy rules

In today's Portland Press Herald, read about the Republican effort to repeal federal privacy regulations that prevent internet service providers from selling the comprehensive data they can collect about their customer's every move, search, click, view, and geolocation. The repeal passed the Senate this week on party lines, with Maine Sen. Susan Collins voting for repeal, independent Sen. Angus King against.

The surprising thing was when I called two of Maine's best-known homegrown internet service providers to get their take, they both condemned it in no uncertain terms. GWI's Fletcher Kittredge had very strong language and a detailed take on just what was at stake that readers everywhere in the U.S. will want to read.

The repeal goes to the US House this coming week, where Maine Rep Chellie Pingree, D-ME1, is strongly against it, and Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-ME2, is, as is often the case, non-commital.

[Update: 3/31/17: The measure passed the House. Poliquin voted for it, Pingree against.]

Maine senators, congress reps react to Sessions revelations, recusal

I spent a good chunk of today keeping tabs on Maine's congressional delegation and their reactions to the revelations that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had mislead the Senate under oath about his contacts with Russian government officials, and his end-of-the-day announcement that he was finally recusing himself from oversight of the Trump/Russia investigations. The rest of the world might care because Sen. Susan Collins, R-ME, was Sessions' biggest champion when he was up for confirmation and she and Sen. Angus King, I-ME, both sit on the Senate intelligence committee that's supposed to be spearheading Congress's Trump/Russia probe.

My story -- updated several times during the day -- is in tomorrow's Portland Press Herald.

I've been following the Trump/Russia issue in recent weeks, including this story on King and Collins' stance on the intel committee's probe of former National Security Advisor Michel Flynn; this one on Sen. Collins' confidence as recently as last week in the integrity and resolve of the committee to "get to the bottom" of the issue; and this one on Sen. King's deep concern over the actions of committee chair Richard Burr, R-NC, who appears to have compromised the probe by agreeing to downplay the Russia story to reporters at the White House's request.

Sen. King "deeply troubled" by potential compromise of Russia-Trump probe

Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) is "deeply troubled" about revelations that the chairman of the Senate committee probing ties between Russia and the Trump campaign colluded last week with the White House to call reporters and try to talk down recent stories on the issue by the New York Times and CNN. King, as I report in today's Press Herald, is concerned the committee's public trust may have been compromised.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who, like King, serves on the Senate intelligence committee, issued a less direct criticism of the senate chairman's actions, not naming Sen. Burr (R-NC) by name.

Both senators have previously opposed the creation of an independent commission or the appointment of a special prosector to look into Russian interference in the 2016 election, saying their committee was the best suited to perform a thorough investigation. As recently as Wednesday, Sen. Collins was pledging that the committee would be "getting to the bottom of this," which I reported in the Press Herald earlier this week.

Collins has also previously said she wanted ex-National Security Advisor Michael Flynn to testify, and that she wanted some committee hearings to be public.

This morning, Axios reports White House communications director Sean Spicer personally placed three-party calls between Burr and journalists to try to discredit the unfolding Russia-Trump stories.