The attorney who filed a recently dismissed professional misconduct complaint against Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney (D) has landed a plush job working for Attorney General Aaron Frey (D).
Maloney was hit with the complaint just weeks before she would run against incumbent Attorney General Frey for the Democrat-controlled legislature’s nomination to serve as AG.
Attorney Zachary Paakkonen filed the complaint on behalf of the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar just weeks before Maloney and Frey would compete for support among Democratic lawmakers.
[RELATED: Maine Bar Dismisses Misconduct Complaint Against Kennebec DA Maeghan Maloney…]
The Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar is an independent agency established by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 1978 to regulate the conduct of lawyers admitted to practice in Maine.
The complaint, regardless of its merits, was eagerly covered in the central Maine newspapers that are reliably favorable toward the Mills Administration.
The result was a figurative black-eye for Maloney as she sought to convince her fellow Democrats that she could restore a sense of ethics and propriety to the AG’s Office.
Frey’s re-election was in question at the time, in no small part because his licentiousness was aired in the media after it was revealed that he had for months carried on a sexual relationship with a married subordinate employee, Assistant Attorney General Ariel R. Piers-Gamble, then Ariel Gannon.
The affair was exposed by the family of Piers-Gamble’s ex-husband. But the news of Frey’s unfaithfulness came as less of a surprise to Frey’s girlfriend of twelve years, whose house he’d lived in for most of that time.
[RELATED: 8-Month Long “Error in Judgement” – Maine AG Aaron Frey Caught in Sex Scandal…]
Though Frey made at least one emotional attempt to patch things up with his longtime girl friend and sometimes benefactor, the pair are now permanently estranged.
News of Frey’s in-office sexual assignations prompted calls for some kind of an inquiry to at least create the appearance that Democrats were concerned with the perception of impropriety that can result when such a power differential exists in a romantic relationship.
[RELATED: AG Aaron Frey’s Longtime Girlfriend Accuses Him of Misleading Comments on Sex Scandal…]
A subsequent investigation commissioned by Democratic lawmakers found that AG Frey did not violate any office policies against having sex with subordinate employees — but only because no such policies existed at the time.
Piers-Gamble remains an Assistant Attorney General in Frey’s office and, according to state payroll records, received compensation worth $153,263.25 in 2024 — a healthy increase from her 2022 pre-affair annual compensation of $108,928.09.
Paakkonen’s petition, submitted on behalf of the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar, was filed on Oct. 3, 2024 — just over one month before the Democrat-controlled legislature voted to once again nominate Frey as AG on Dec. 5, 2024.
The complaint stemmed from a phone call Maloney placed to a sexual assault victims advocacy group after learning about wild allegations of sexual assault posted by a central Maine woman to Facebook.
That complaint was dismissed on April 22 with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought again against Maloney.
Although Maloney’s attorney in the matter, Joe Jabar, did not directly accuse Paakkonen and Frey of engaging in a quid-pro-quo of dirty politics to smear his client and help Frey cling to power, his statement to media did point toward political motivations behind the complaint.
“Now that the election is over, all charges have been dropped with prejudice and without a hearing,” Jabar said. “We have maintained from the beginning that DA Maloney acted in compliance with the law.”
Much as it pays well to work under Frey — depending on the position, of course — it also pays to submit the ultimately bogus professional misconduct complaint that tars his reputable and credible challenger for the AG position.
Paakkonen, who’d previously worked for Frey as an Assistant Attorney General from Dec. 31, 2018 to Oct. 20, 2023, retreated from the competitive private sector to another gig on Frey’s team.
Whatever Paakkonen did during his brief stint in the private sector must have improved the value of his legal acumen in the eyes of the Attorney General.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Christopher C. Taub told the Maine Wire via email that Paakkonen’s new AAG role will earn him a base salary of $112,382.40, which will work out to a total comp package worth more than $133k — a decent increase over his 2023 base pay rate of $103,608.90.
Democrat women in ME are proving to be corrupt as can be
Great example of lawfare!
Mr Frey has disgraced the office of Attorney General in Maine in more ways than one and should resign in shame. Don’t hold your breath, because Democrats of his stripe have no shame.
The corruption of the Mills administration knows no bounds. For the last 20 plus years of my working career I worked for a not bad looking female boss. Maybe if I’d started banging the boss I could have received a nearly $45k increase in compensation over two years. There may be no legal precedent which prevented such behavior but obviously in the eyes of the democrats there is no ethical issues either. And then to pay someone to smear a political opponent and subsequently put them on the payroll after winning election. And this guy is the ever evil Janet’s highest law enforcement officer in the state of Maine. Why should ordinary citizens tremble.
No corruption here, lol!
So, that means Maloney is full of baloney.
Democrats aren’t even trying to hide their corruption anymore. They’re doing it right out in the open, for everyone to see!
They must be confident they have enough transplanted Massholes, a thoroughly corrupt Secretary of State and illegals voting to win elections!
De-fund Harvard.
Got to love it when Dems eat their own. Maloney is a nighmare in 2 counties. Thankfully she wasn’t inflicted on the whole state
Quid Pro Quo.
Maloney turns a blind eye to rape if a buddy is affiliated with the crime – her organization’s board members include a “massage parlor” owner and a man who hired a serial drink-drugger and rapist in his kitchen. In this case, the woman who filed the complaint was raped at a Maloney donor’s establishment.
The victim contacted police and Maloney’s organization for help. The victim didn’t know she was raped on Maloney gang territory and the further hell and lack of concern that would come. Maloney neglected to handle this case properly due to her bias, financial gain, and other such connections with old shady guys in Kennebec/Somerset county.
The creepy business owner received ample help covering up his neglect. His friend Maeghan Maloney smeared the woman and placed the heat on HER while insisting the woman was imagining things and accusing her of defamation for sharing the inconsistencies she observed.
The Bar complaint was based on Maloney’s tactics to protect her wealthy friend, which included intimidating friends of the victim and bypassing channels. Multiple witnesses sent in their own information and provided testimony to the Maine State “overseers” of the Bar.
Oddly enough, Maloney is calling her misconduct “attempts to help the victim by contacting an advocate” in hopes that nobody will press further.
Has anyone EVER asked that freak “Why?” “How?” “Can you provide documentation of that?” after she pukes out a lie?
A breakdown of Maloney’s organization’s expenses include 100k salary and the rest “related expenses”. WTF? Is she using her position as prosecutor to collect loyalty funds for a phony organization? Why is a government official building connections and facilitating conficts of interest through her organization?
ANYONE who affiliates themselves with Maeghan Maloney needs to face some hard questions. Mainers are too passive. Anyone with a few brain cells can put the pieces together. She’s a psychopathic, vengeful authoritatian. She can’t regulate her emotions and has commited unforgivable atrocities. We are coming out of the woodwork. Maloney is mentally ill and a danger to society. She intentionally botches cases, lies, and smears anyone she sees as a potential or actual threat to her ego.
Maeghan Maloney better start preparing her demented brain for the karma overload coming her way. She’s a fragile egomaniac who has been coddled her whole life, so the impending meltdown will be a satisfying watch. I’m looking forward to the cop brotherhood, which includes Maloney, to feel the sharp sting of justice.