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Grand jury finds probable cause to charge sitting legislator with domestic violence

Grand jury finds probable cause to charge sitting legislator with domestic violence

Yahoo06-03-2025
Domestic violence survivors and advocates protested in Sanford on Jan. 9, 2025, one day after the Maine House of Representatives approved an ethics probe into the domestic violence allegations against Rep. Lucas Lanigan. (Photo by Eesha Pendharkar/Maine Morning Star)
Sanford Republican Rep. Lucas Lanigan was indicted on Wednesday after a grand jury found probable cause to charge the sitting legislator on two counts for domestic violence offenses.
Lanigan, who was arraigned in York County Superior Court, pleaded not guilty to both charges, which include a Class B felony for aggravated domestic violence and a Class D misdemeanor for domestic violence charges. An indictment is not a guilty verdict or sentencing, rather it means the grand jury found probable cause to convict Lanigan on the charges the police recommended.
Lanigan was arrested one week before the November election for domestic violence aggravated assault. According to a police report, a Sanford police officer alleged that Lanigan strangled his wife after she confronted him and another woman his wife believed he was having an affair with. Lanigan then won reelection by one vote after a recount.
During Lanigan's first court appearance in October, his wife called the incident a 'misunderstanding' and said the case should be dropped. However, Assistant District Attorney Linda Holdsworth-Donovan said victims regularly recant or downplay their stories after the fact and that the state would still pursue charges.
Lanigan, who represents the towns of Newfield, Shapleigh, and parts of Sanford and Springvale, did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication. He told the Portland Press Herald that he promised his caucus he would 'immediately resign and step down' if he is convicted, 'because someone that's convicted of that should not be serving in the House of Representatives.'
The Maine Democratic Party called for Lanigan's resignation following the indictment, reiterating earlier calls from the party and Democratic legislators.
'There is no place for domestic violence in our society,' Maine Democratic Party Vice Chair Imke Schessler-Jandreau said in a statement, 'and I call on Republican leaders to join the widespread calls for Mr. Lanigan's immediate resignation.'
Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Brunswick) and Speaker of the House Ryan Fecteau (D-Biddeford) did not respond to requests for comment on the sitting legislator's indictment by the time of publication. Fecteau stripped Lanigan of his assignment to the Labor Committee in December.
In January, Maine House members voted 74-69 to direct the House Ethics Committee to investigate the allegations against Lanigan to determine if he had violated the code of ethics. A report is due a month after the committee convenes.
One day after that vote, Finding Our Voices, a domestic violence survivor network, held a protest against Lanigan's reelection.
'Thank you to the York County DA for continuing to pursue criminal charges against Lucas Lanigan,' Patrisha McLean, CEO and founder of Finding Our Voices, wrote in a statement to Maine Morning Star following the indictment. 'And thank you to every individual working to end Lanigan's law making abilities: Maine needs stronger laws against domestic violence stranglers and not lawmakers who stand indicted for domestic violence strangling.'
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In several public statements and social media posts last week, GHF said the responsibility for the mass starvation lies with the U.N. for allowing their full aid trucks inside Gaza to sit untouched and undistributed. "The U.N. cannot deliver this humanitarian aid to the people who need it most, and I'm not sure what the reason is," said GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay in a video posted to X, which showed him standing in front of U.N. aid trucks. "Whether it's looters, safety or whether they're playing politics, it just doesn't matter. The people of Gaza deserve better." The executive chairman of GHF, Reverend Johnnie Moore, in an interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro this week accused the U.N. of "playing politics with people's lives." 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"We are now facing a dire situation that we are running out of therapeutic supplies," said Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for UNICEF in Amman, Jordan. "That's really dangerous for children as they face hunger and malnutrition at the moment," he added. Oweis said UNICEF had only enough RUTF left to treat 3,000 children. In the first two weeks of July alone, UNICEF treated 5,000 children facing acute malnutrition in Gaza. The UNICEF spokesperson said the agency is unaware of whether GHF is distributing this type of specialized food and emphasized that it must be given to children after they are assessed by professional health workers to be suffering from acute malnutrition. GHF did not respond to CBS News when asked if the foundation also distributes specialized high-nutrient food for acutely malnourished children. UNICEF is the main procurer of RUTF in the world. Read the full letter sent by Senate Democrats to Secretary of State Marco Rubio here:Camilla Schick and Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.

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