Maine lawmaker seeks to impeach secretary of state over Trump ballot decision
In the wake of her controversial determination that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the Maine GOP primary ballot, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is now the subject of an impeachment push spearheaded by Republican state Rep. John Andrews, as the New York Post reports.
According to Andrews, he has already filed a request with the Revisor's Office in Maine indicating his desire “to file a Joint Order, or whichever is the proper parliamentary mechanism under Mason's Rules, to impeach Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.”
Andrews' move comes in the wake of Bellows' determination that, according to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol unrest renders him ineligible to hold public office and, therefore, to appear on the presidential primary ballot.
Bellows' decision has ignited a firestorm, in part due to her status as a non-lawyer and a political appointee.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about the situation, Andrews said, “In Maine, the people do not elect the Secretary of State, Attorney General or Treasurer. They are chosen by elected Democratic Party insiders after deals are made in the back room of State House.”
Andrews continued, “Shenna Bellows knows that the process that put her there is extremely partisan. She should know better and be going out of her way to be as neutral as possible to serve every citizen in Maine and not just registered Democrats.”
Taking further aim at Bellows, Andrews said, “That's why she swore an oath to the Constitution and not the Democratic Party. We are still a republic, but moves like this fracture that foundation, which ultimately is the point of all this.”
Articulating the grounds on which he intends to pursue impeachment, Andrews said “that she is barring an American citizen and [the] 45th President of the United States, who is convicted of no crime or impeachment, their right to appear on a Maine Republican Party ballot in March.”
Andrews decried what he said was “raw partisanship” that had no place in the election process overseen by the state's “Constitutional Officers.”
Perhaps lending support to Andrews' claims of undue partisan influences leading to Bellows' decision is reporting from Fox News indicating that the secretary of state has a long history of engagement with President Joe Biden and forces aligned in opposition to Trump.
White House visitor logs revealed that Bellows paid visits to members of the administration on two different occasions in 2023, and during one such trip, she met with the president himself and had her photo taken with him.
Bellows even boasted of the experience on social media, declaring the experience to have been “amazing.”
The embattled secretary of state has also been vocal about feeling “truly frightened for our democracy” in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential contest and has expressed her opposition to the Electoral College, which she said was a “relic of white supremacy.”
Whether Andrews' efforts to secure Bellows' impeachment are ultimately successful is something that remains to be seen, but it seems certain that all eyes will be on the state as the lawmaker continues his quest for accountability.