(The Center Square) – Impeachment of Secretary of State Shenna Bellows by Maine Republicans is being pushing again, this time over her refusal to issue confidential license plates to federal agencies during ICE’s recent activities in the state.
In a letter to Democratic legislative leaders, four Republican lawmakers call on them to create a special investigative committee and impeachment proceedings to “hold the secretary accountable for her actions.”
The letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, House Minority Leader Billy “Bob” Faulkingham, comes in response to Bellows’ decision to deny an otherwise routine request for confidential, undercover Maine license plates for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol agents, and other federal authorities, which they said “put law enforcement and the public in danger.”
“The secretary has made it clear: Her actions serve only to make federal law enforcement officers – regardless of agency or mission – easily identifiable for the purpose of disrupting their lawful operations,” the letter says. “It is our duty as legislators to hold Executive Branch officials, including constitutional officers, accountable for their actions in office.
“We look forward to your attention to this matter, which, if left unchecked, will unnecessarily put Mainers and our federal law enforcement partners at undue risk.”
Bellows fired back at the claims in the statement that accused the Republican lawmakers of spreading “lies and misinformation.” She said she stands behind her decision not to issue the confidential plates to federal authorities.
“I made the decision to pause the issuance of new confidential plates out of deep concern that ICE’s actions violate the U.S. Constitution and the law,” she said. “It was not a decision made lightly. But where I saw the decision as a necessary one to protect Mainers’ lives, the Maine GOP saw it as yet another opportunity to spread lies and misinformation and instill fear.”
Maine was the subject of a large-scale immigration enforcement operation by the Department of Homeland Security. Federal agents arrested more than 200 “criminal aliens” during a yearly weeklong sweep of the state’s two largest cities, Portland and Lewiston.
Top Maine Democrats have criticized the enhanced enforcement of immigration law by ICE.
Bellows, a former state senator seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination to run for governor in the Nov. 3 election, has faced previous efforts by lawmakers to remove her from office.
Republicans pushed unsuccessfully to impeach Bellows for trying to remove Donald Trump’s name from the 2024 presidential primary ballot. Her issue was his possible role in the Jan. 6, 2021, events at the U.S. Capitol.
Democrats, in majority of the Legislature, rejected the impeachment proposal.
More recently, the Republican National Committee has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate Bellows for violations of federal law over her refusal to turn over sensitive voter data.
Bellows has twice refused requests from the Trump administration to turn over the state’s voter registration data. She criticizes the demands as a “fishing expedition” that would compromise voters’ personal information. In one response, she told the Justice Department to “go jump in the Gulf of Maine” and said she would not comply with the agency’s demands.
