AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine lawmakers are sending a case regarding document shredding at the state Center for Disease Control to the attorney general.
The Government and Oversight Committee unanimously voted Wednesday to refer the sworn testimony it heard to Janet Mills’ office.
The Portland Press Herald reports that the committee couldn’t agree on whether officials knew they were breaking the state’s Freedom of Access Act or if the documents were destroyed due to poor records-retention policies.
The committee’s inquiry came after former CDC official Sharon Leahy-Lind said she was harassed after refusing to destroy documents detailing a grants competition.
In March, Leahy-Lind told lawmakers she was ordered to destroy the documents after a newspaper filed an open-records request.
Other CDC officials said it wasn’t an attempt to deliberately violate the law.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less