Panel clears Maine GOP senator of wrongdoing

AUGUSTA, Maine — Republican Sen. Ron Collins of Wells was cleared of any wrongdoing in his use of taxpayer dollars by the Maine Senate Ethics Committee, which met Thursday for the first time in its 27-year history.

The committee of two Democratic and three Republican senators voted 4-1 after hours of deliberations to find that Collins did not commit the ethical breaches he was accused of by Democratic Sens. John Patrick of Rumford and Justin Alfond of Portland. They alleged that Collins paid for lodging in Augusta with money from his political action committee and then unethically filed for reimbursements from the Legislature for the same lodging.

Collins admitted that that’s what happened but argued that receiving per-diem allocations for traveling to Augusta for legislative business is not the same as a reimbursement. The majority of the committee, with the exception of Democratic Sen. Anne Haskell of Portland, agreed.

“Hopefully I can clear my name and go back to my life in Wells and proceed with my campaign. This has been a huge distraction,” he said. “The last thing I wanted to do was break the law or create an atmosphere of not being ethical.”

Read more: http://www.sunjournal.com/news/0001/11/30/panel-clears-maine-gop-senator-wrongdoing/2020213