AUGUSTA, Maine – The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices has voted to open an investigation into an anonymous website targeting Republican gubernatorial candidate Ben Midgley, escalating a dispute inside the already heated GOP primary for governor.
The commission voted Wednesday to investigate midgleyexposed.com, a website that attacked Midgley and included a disclaimer stating that it was not paid for or authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.
Midgley’s campaign filed the complaint, arguing that the website contained a false disclosure statement and was connected to the campaign of Republican gubernatorial rival Bobby Charles.
The website has since been taken down and is no longer accessible.
At issue is whether the site was financed by Charles, his campaign, or someone connected to his political operation, and whether the site was legally required to include a different campaign finance disclosure.
The Ethics Commission did not vote to investigate the Charles campaign directly. Instead, commissioners authorized staff to investigate the website itself to determine who paid for it and whether its disclaimer complied with Maine campaign finance law.
The complaint centers on a $50 campaign expenditure that Midgley’s team says links a Charles campaign consultant to the site. According to the Midgley campaign, the expenditure was connected to web services and suggests that someone working with Charles was behind the anonymous attack website.
The Charles campaign has denied involvement, arguing that the $50 expenditure cited in the complaint was reimbursement for a different domain and not evidence that the campaign financed or controlled midgeleyexposed.com.
Lauren LePage, campaign manager for Ben Midgley, told the Maine Wire, “The Maine Ethics Commission unanimously voted to investigate the purchaser of the website, with false attacks, after finding credible evidence that it may have been tied to the Charles campaign and that campaign finance laws may have been violated. Mainers deserve transparency in their elections. If candidates or their allies are funding false attacks on opponents, voters have a right to know who’s behind them. People are tired of anonymous smear campaigns and political games. They want leaders who stand behind their words and tell the truth.”
Bobby Charles responded to this article with, “Dirty lawfare, and smears from the desperate and flailing Midgley campaign. Sad this is the way they wanted to go out! As you mention Jon…”The Ethics Commission did not vote to investigate the Charles campaign directly.” The only one “allegedly” linking it to my campaign is the Midgley campaign stuck at 4% in the polls. It’s a complete lie, we worked with the ethics committee and answered all questions and they chose NOT to investigate us! It’s time to drain the swamp and end this sort of lawfare and politics. Shame on people using our systems to do this nonsense.”
The dispute lands less than two weeks before Maine’s June 9 primary, as Republican candidates battle for position in the open race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Janet Mills.
The GOP field has become increasingly competitive, with candidates looking to distinguish themselves on taxes, spending, welfare reform, energy costs, public safety, and the size of state government. But the Ethics Commission investigation shifts attention to campaign tactics, disclosure rules, and the growing use of political websites and digital attacks in statewide races.
Maine law requires political communications to properly disclose who paid for them, particularly when they are intended to influence voters. Anonymous or misleading political communications can trigger scrutiny from the Ethics Commission, which oversees campaign finance reporting, candidate committees, political action committees, independent expenditures, and other election-related disclosures.
For voters, the case raises a familiar election-year question: who is behind the political messages appearing online, and whether campaigns are being transparent about their role in producing them.
The Midgley campaign has portrayed the website as an undisclosed attack meant to damage him in the final stretch of the primary. The Charles campaign has framed the complaint as a political maneuver by a rival campaign trying to distract from the race.
The commission’s vote does not represent a finding that Charles or his campaign violated the law. It simply authorizes investigators to examine the financing and disclosure behind the website.
The timing, however, ensures the controversy will remain part of the Republican primary conversation as candidates make their closing arguments to voters.
With the site now offline, investigators will have to determine who created, paid for, or controlled the website, and whether the disclaimer that appeared on it accurately reflected its funding and authorization.
The Ethics Commission’s eventual findings could determine whether the matter ends as a campaign-season complaint or becomes a formal campaign finance violation.
Editors note: A quote from Bobby Charles was added to this article, after it first ran.
This Commission , controlled by Augusta puppet democrats , ( like all the others ) is scared to death of what Bobby Charles will do when he wins in November .
They will DO AND SAY ANYTHING to slander , slur , derail , or otherwise tank his campaign , ESPECIALLY before the primary when Sheena can work her Ranked Choice Voting witchcraft and proclaim some bozo like Midgley the officially recognized candidate . YOU just wait and see .
The Augusta Swamp attempts to strike again .
Midgley should spend some more of his campaign money on dentures that fit .
HIS money , as of now is most likely coming from some DARK Anti-Charles PAC .
Bobby Charles, ,might make it out of the primary but it will take RCV to get him over the line. He will need all the swamp money he can raise. Did you see where he claimed that Glenn Beck endorsed him, just a lie, Beck does not endorse anyone.
Who’s on the Ethics Commission ?
i’ve seen ads from Garret Mason,, Midgley and Charles all flinging dirt on each other, maybe the real reason is Charles is leading right now?
Dirty lawfare, and smears from the desperate and flailing Midgley campaign. Sad this is the way they wanted to go out! As you mention Jon…”The Ethics Commission did not vote to investigate the Charles campaign directly.” The only one “allegedly” linking it to my campaign is the Midgley campaign stuck at 4% in the polls. It’s a complete lie, we worked with the ethics committee and answered all questions and they chose NOT to investigate us! It’s time to drain the swamp and end this sort of lawfare and politics. Shame on people using our systems to do this nonsense.
I’ll vote for Bob Chuck if he wins the primary, but I’m voting for Ben Midgley this June
Paging Kash Patel
Paging Kash Patel in Maine we seriously need an investigation into the State of Maine to Drain & Flush out the swamp starting in the state house.
Then we need to ICE down the towns & cities of Lewiston, Portland, Bangor, Augusta and surrounding areas.
Remember to bring plenty of those shiny bracelets for these crazy democrats and their partners in crime.
There’s a bunch of Somalis who would love to spend several years in the federal crow bar hotel before going back home. Permanently!!!
Just think of this as a punch list at the end of a construction site that the mills administration built, we the people of Maine want to tear it down & rebuild.
Somebody seriously needs to drop a dime to Kash Patel!!!
The team representing milquetoast Midgley sent texts to me trying to convince me that Charles was not a good candidate. The vitriol of the other candidates in this race toward Charles has been disgusting – they focus on Charles because he’s done the work to earn the voters’ support.
Midgley’s team seems to be the “pot calling the kettle black”. Every piece of Midgley mail and radio spots have slammed Bobby Charles in every way possible. If you want to be taken seriously, stop the mud-slinging. It’s a real turn off.