AUGUSTA — A panel created by Gov. Paul LePage has found no bias by Maine’s anti-discrimination agency.

LePage threatened last year to go to court over accusations that the Maine Human Rights Commission edited an audiotape while investigating allegations of religious discrimination at Moody’s Diner in Waldoboro.

But in a report Wednesday, the panel said misinformation and misunderstanding feed perceptions of bias. And some of the panel members took LePage to task, saying he was inappropriately intruding in the affairs of an independent agency.

The panel also found understaffing and underfunding. The commission’s executive director, Amy Sneirson, said those problems go back decades.

LePage’s office didn’t comment.

Last year, the governor defended his creation of the panel by saying when something sneaky happens, it’s his job to look into it.


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