Ethics Watchdog Unanimously Finds Sara Gideon’s Political Committee in Violation of State Law

House Speaker Sara Gideon’s corporate-funded political committee was found guilty today of orchestrating a straw-donor scheme that violated state law.

“The Maine Ethics Commission unanimously voted to assess a $500 fine against Gideon’s shuttered political committee, ending a state ethics case against her as she runs for the Democratic nomination to face U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, in 2020. A federal complaint on the same issue looms and a conservative group filed a related one on Tuesday.”

The Commission’s unanimous ruling also involves the Maine Democratic Party and House Democrat Jared Golden, both of which received contributions from Gideon’s now-shuttered political committee.

“The focal points of the complaints were Gideon’s $2,750 in contributions to the federal arm of the Maine Democratic Party and former 2nd Congressional District candidate Emily Cain in 2015 and 2016 that were reimbursed by her state-level political committee.”

Sara Gideon is the current frontrunner in her primary, and she’s received endorsements from a plethora of national Democratic organizations including the DSCC, Emily’s List, and NARAL.

This ruling is a devastating blow to Gideon, who is already receiving scrutiny for her ties to a dark-money group running false ads against Sen. Susan Collins.