Jim Bowdoin
Paul LePage, the Republican governor of Maine, has met repeatedly for with members of a militia movement, labeled as domestic terrorists by the FBI.
The Sovereign Citizens group, also known as the Constitutional Coalition, has claimed that Sandy Hook was a “false flag” operation to help enable a “holocaust against America’s Christian population.” It calls any currency besides gold and silver “unconstitutional.” Despite these wild claims, the group had requested a number of meetings with LePage in the past and had always been ignored by his staff. But once LePage found out that they wanted to meet with him, he went out of his way to set up a total of eight meetings.
At the first meeting, LePage and members of the group discussed a range of topics, including a joint United Nations-Rockefeller plot to take over Maine’s North Woods. Most disturbing was the group’s push to have two top Democrats in the legislature, the House speaker and Senate president, arrested for “high treason.” In response, LePage then apparently said “they’re talking about hanging them.” LePage apparently helped the Sovereign Citizens in their effort to make this happen by trying to enlist a county sheriff to intervene with the state attorney general. After that failed, they talked to LePage about setting up special “common law” courts to try the Democrats, since, in their opinion, current state courts were illegitimate because they practice admiralty law (this is proven by gold fringe on flags in the courtroom).
LePage pushed back against Tipping’s reporting and denied discussing treason or execution.
The Tea Party governor won election in 2010 with only 38% of the vote in a three-way race. Since taking office, he’s made a slew of crude remarks. LePage has said the Maine NAACP could “kiss my butt”, that President Obama “hates white people,” and a made a rape joke involving a Democrat.