Vice President JD Vance on Monday sharply criticized Democratic state auditor Matt Dunlap for failing to stop taxpayer fraud while answering a question from Maine Wire reporter Jon Fetherston about when the fraudsters will finally be held accountable, continuing his public recognition of the outlet’s work exposing the problem.
Speaking at Compotech in Brewer while campaigning for former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, Vance asked how Maine became “one of the main capitals of defrauding the American taxpayer.” He said one key reason was that the state “hired an auditor who is not actually an auditor and failed the auditor exam.”
Dunlap resigned from the post in 2021 after failing required certification exams, later passed them, and was reappointed in 2022. Vance said Mainers managing public money should meet the job’s requirements and told the crowd that if Dunlap “cannot protect your tax dollars from fraudsters, who has turned your state into one of the fraud capitals of the United States of America, maybe you should be saying to Matt Dunlap, ‘You’re fired, not promoted to the United States Congress.’”
Fetherston, whose reporting on MaineCare fraud has drawn national attention, posed the question Maine Wire readers ask most often: When will those who committed the fraud be held accountable?
Vance said the federal government has communicated with Gov. Janet Mills’ administration but expressed limited confidence it would “lean into this anti-fraud effort.” He argued state leaders had “doubled down” on making it harder to catch and prosecute offenders and insisted fraudsters must be put behind bars.
Vance has previously praised Maine Wire’s fraud reporting, publicly recognizing Fetherston and editor Steve Robinson during a May visit to Bangor as “people who have been fighting fraud” and leading applause for them. Monday’s exchange continued that engagement.
He closed by urging voters to send LePage to Congress, calling him an independent-minded fighter for Maine taxpayers. Federal reviews have flagged tens of millions in questioned MaineCare payments.
