The Heritage Foundation has filed a lawsuit against Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) for allegedly violating the state’s Freedom of Access Act (FOAA).
According to court documents obtained by the Maine Wire, the governor failed to provide documents in response to a late February FOAA request concerning her opposition to President Donald Trump’s (R) executive order barring biological males from participating in girls’ sports, allegedly violating the state’s government transparency law.
“The Governor’s unreasonable delay is contrary to the purpose of FOAA,” the Heritage Foundation writes in their lawsuit. “Allowing a government agency to acknowledge a request, but never produce documents, encourages burdens to disclosure that violates the statutes purpose for open government.”
Participating as a plaintiff alongside the Heritage Foundation in this case is Mike Howell, leader of the Oversight Project, investigative columnist for The Daily Signal, and contributor to The Blaze.
On February 24, 2025, the plaintiffs in this case submitted two FOAA requests to Gov. Mills’ office concerning the state’s policy with respect to President Trump’s Executive Order 14201, as well as the National Governors Association luncheon at the White House where Gov. Mills and Trump famously clashed over this issue.
The plaintiffs go on to explain in their complaint that these requests were acknowledged on February 28, but they were not provided an estimate of how long it would take to fulfill the request or how much it would cost.
Howell reached out for updates in April and May but did not receive a response.
It is alleged in this lawsuit that this amounts to a violation of the Freedom of Access Act, as the plaintiffs argue that it is “unreasonable” for the governor’s office to have not produced the requested records within 90 days without communicating with them.
They then go on to suggest that Mills has “ignored” their request for three months “without offering a reasonable justification” for her “failure to comply with the FOAA.”
As a result of this lawsuit, the Heritage Foundation and Howell are hoping to have the court force Mills to turn over the requested documents and cover the costs associated with bringing this case.
This case will now be considered by the Kennebec County Superior Court.
Note: This story was updated on June 5, 2025 to address a technical difficulty in the article’s formatting.
