The Maine Ethics Commission on Thursday voted against investigating a pro-GOP “news” site that was secretly operated by state Republican Party executive director Jason Savage.
In their 3-2 decision, the commission said they were satisfied with Savage’s explanation that he ran the Maine Examiner in his own time and without relying on state GOP resources, according to the Portland Press Herald.
The two Republicans on the panel were joined by the one independent in voting not to investigate. The panel’s two Democrats dissented.
The Maine Democratic Party in January filed a complaint asking the commission to look into the site’s connections to the state GOP. The site had published a series of false stories disparaging a Democratic mayoral candidate who ended up losing his race by only 145 votes.
The Maine GOP strenuously denied any ties to the Examiner, which described itself as a small local news website run by a “group of Mainers.” But Savage acknowledged he ran and wrote for the site after metadata directly linked him to it.
Savage’s attorneys said that the site was not subject to state campaign finance disclosure laws, as Democrats alleged, because it was a “personal project.”
His party often shared videos and stories produced by the site on its own social media platforms.
The state Democratic party said that they still scored a win by uncovering Savage’s role in promoting the site.
“As a result of this complaint, the Maine Democratic Party was able to drive Savage out of the shadows, hold him accountable to the public for his disturbing actions, and shine a bright light on the underhanded tactics that he and the Maine Republican Party are willing to engage in,” Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett said in a statement.
Nothing to see here, move along. Because of course someone who has run a site full of lies and lied about his involvement with it should totally be believed when he says how he funded and coordinated it.
On the other hand, I would guess that this means if he’s sued for libel or anything else in conjunction with the site, the party can’t honestly offer to pick up any of the costs.
If he claims to be innocent, you’d think he’d welcome an investigation, just to prove there’s no collusion, right?
Sure! Nothing ethically nefarious about running a Fake News site for the Republican cause. That’s what Republicans do! They wouldn’t be Republicans if they broadcast the truth. The GOP holds all their member to the highest standards of loyalty to the Party. That Oath of Loyalty has precise stipulations about the propagation of Fake News. One Party. One Rule. That’s the Red American way!
This is total bullshit. Local news reported that when the state GOP, of which he is the executive director, considered posting the videos created by this site, Savage, who was participating in the discussion, did not reveal that it was his own site they were discussing.
How this is not an ethics breach is beyond me.
The article in today’s edition of Fake Liberal News Daily quotes the Savage family: