State authorizes private lawyers to defend Maine CDC
The state has approved spending up to $100,000 to defend members of the Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from a federal whistleblower lawsuit alleging agency officials ordered the destruction of documents related to $4.7 million in grant awards for regional health programs.
The Sun Journal reported Maine Attorney General Janet Mills has approved a spending cap of $50,000 per client for attorneys defending charges against the state and CDC Director Sheila Pinette. The Attorney General’s Office had asked to be recused from the case because of an “unexpected development” that was not publicly detailed.
The newspaper reported the attorneys representing the state in the case will be paid between $300 and $333 per hour. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office told the newspaper the state sought outside attorneys 72 times during 2012 and 2013.
The lawsuit filed by former CDC official Sharon Leahy-Lind last October alleged that she was ordered to shred documents related to grant awards, claims supported after an investigation by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability in December. The attorneys in the case have asked the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee to hold off on subpoenas of officials involved in the case until the whistleblower case is resolved.
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