I do have some Maine connections, including one who went to high school with Shenna Bellows husband. I have a few yearbook photos actually, but I am hesitant about posting them while monetizing this post.
Although in the End Trump won the Maine administrative hearing through a supreme court ruling in Anderson v Colorado, There are some reports that Trump still isn't done with the Maine Case, whereas secretary Bellows didn't withdraw her so called factual findings. https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/03/29/politics/donald-trump-continues-fight-maine-shenna-bellows-joam40zk0w/ . Prior to this it was widely reported that Trump won in the state superior court of appeal by having the court remanding the decision back to the secretary of state pending the aforementioned Anderson supreme court case. However, the superior court judge, Michaela Murphy, wasn't being fair in her rulings as to Trump. She ruled against him consistently where the facts didn't match her findings.
Bellows have previously made extrajudicial Statements on social media that warranted her recusal from the matter. Murphy basically said, contrary to the filings, that Trump's attorney had ample opportunity to investigate these matters. The record does not support this judicial determination.
The administrative hearing to remove Trump was nefarious. The announcement of the Trial was on Dec 11th 2023, and the actual hearing on dec 15, and the pleadings had to be filed before then. The general rules for why a party typically has 30-60 days (I forget which) with a 30 day extension if they agree to a waiver of summons to respond to a summons, is to give the respondent adequate time to find an attorney, and respond to the complaint. Maine citizens and Donald Trump had a few days, and only the Maine citizens who were watching the news and had the time. Trump's attorneys were never given notice and never served. This is a fundamental violation of due process. The hearing was held over one day, and the parties could file briefs thereafter. Although Trumps attorneys were from across the nation, Maine itself would undergo an Ice Storm. So needless to say, the person who ultimately discovered Bellows Bias was offline for nearly a week. He didn't have standing to file a pro-se motion to recuse secretary Bellows himself, so he reached out to Trump's counsel.
And Of course, as we all know from national news, a motion was filed to recuse. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24239748-trump-request-to-disqualify-maine-secretary-of-state . you may check the bottom of page 1, or perhaps page 4.
And my contact did a follow up with more information, which lead to Trump's attorney's filing this motion to supplement the record. Ban Gaines is the opposing party's attorney, who had secretary Bellows as a speaker for one of his organizations. https://www.courts.maine.gov/news/trump/motion-to-supplement-record.pdf
There is a whole lot more that's been found since. But let's visit the judges order on this for a moment. https://www.courts.maine.gov/news/trump/order-and-decision.pdf
Apparently the judge doesn't know the difference between merely being social with someone in cutler, and knowing someone personally very well. But this isn't the only area she failed. She specifically claims, "all evidence offered by President Trump could have been discovered and offered in support of his request to Disqualify the Secretary during the proceedings before the secretary. The record doesn't support the judges finding of facts. The record also doesn't show who discovered it either, but the judge is also unaware of the week long power and internet outage. The motion to recuse was made on December 27th, and the secretary made her decision on December 28th. There was no time for discovery, even assuming the Maine rules of administrative procedures allowed discovery. There certainly wasn't discovery in the trial itself. The letter my contact sent Trump's attorneys has information based upon 3 different providers of open source intelligence including one newspaper, and much more has since been uncovered including a white house visits with a groups hostile to Trump, zoom calls where secretary of states pledge to take an initiatives to purge undesirable candidates to protect democracy. The Maine Wire has an open records request with the secretary of state's office that hasn't been answered in some 3 months!
. One has to seriously question how expansive a law firm must be to adequately represent a client in Maine, or how to commence discovery when the secretary is willfully refusing to disclose public information....and over Christmas break and a massive power failure even.https://twitter.com/BigSteve207/status/1773402306828009875
- BigSteve207
But here is the attorney's own timeline of events (besides what has been mentioned earlier) https://www.courts.maine.gov/news/trump/opening-brief-donald-trump.pdf
If you think that timeline is bad to review I think some 6000+ pages, and try to secure evidence, find witnesses, research legal issues, let's go onto their next document and see how they had to spend their pre-trial.https://www.courts.maine.gov/news/trump/reply-brief-of-trump.pdf
Needless to say, Trump wasn't given notice nor was served. Instead of being able to file pre-trial motions, or even a continuance, the secretary was refusing to permit Trump's attorneys from making an appearance, and denying them pro hac vice appearance permission. The attorneys had to go to a superior court to obtain that permission which is quite costly, and further delays the process.
Yeah the Maine Secretary of State was dirty. She didn't want anyone to defend Trump. The complaining parties had years to prepare (and indeed Bellows and Maine AG Frey were conspiring months earlier prior to any complaint filed, and ex parte communications were being made by leftist groups), She wouldn't permit Trump or the people of Maine any viable opportunity to be heard who wanted Trump on the Ballot. For those who say that Judge Murphy was fair to trump in staying and remanding the matter, I'll let the record speak for itself to the opposite. She was going to let the decision remand back to the same corrupted secretary for reasons that contradicted the appellate record and case law. She was, however, obligated to grant the stay and remand. Bellows not happy, appealed further, and her appeal was denied.
Bellows has survived two impeachment attempts, but her job is being protected by the democrats who control that state.