Andrew Benson was a Maine District Court Judge when he was nominated to serve as Maine’s top federal prosecutor.
department of justice
DOJ abandons attempt to restrict crime survivor programs after lawsuit, Maine AG says
Attorney General Aaron Frey announced last week that Maine was joining a multistate legal challenge to the Trump administration’s effort to bar undocumented immigrants from using the support systems.
Trump taps Maine judge to serve as state’s top federal prosecutor
District Court Judge Andrew Benson has been nominated to serve as Maine’s U.S. attorney. If confirmed, he would succeed Darcie McElwee, a Biden nominee whom Trump fired in February.
Maine joins lawsuit against Justice Department over funding for crime survivor programs
Maine, 20 other states and the District of Columbia are challenging a new restriction that would bar states from using federal programs designated for survivors of violent crimes to provide services for undocumented immigrants.
Justice Department sues Maine for refusing to provide voter information
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows twice denied the DOJ’s request for the information, which includes personal data such as birth dates, addresses and partial Social Security numbers.
Maine again rejects Justice Department request for voters’ personal information
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said Monday in a letter that she has ‘grave concerns’ about the Trump administration’s second demand for about 1 million voters’ birth dates, addresses and other data.
Maine, 19 other states and DC sue DOJ to stop immigration requirements on victim funds
The suit seeks to stop the Justice Department from cutting funding to states that refuse to honor immigration enforcement requests, deny ICE officers access to jails and fail to provide advance notice of release dates of individuals possibly wanted by immigration officials.
Maine rejects Justice Department’s request for all voters’ personal info, list of election officials
Secretary of State Shenna Bellows responded to the request by telling the DOJ to ‘go jump in the Gulf of Maine.’
Maine Department of Education denies accusations in DOJ lawsuit
The Department of Justice complaint alleges that Maine is violating Title IX by allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports.
Justice Department directs prosecutors to probe local efforts to obstruct immigration enforcement
The DOJ memo tells prosecutors in no uncertain terms that they are expected to carry out the policy vision of Donald Trump’s White House when it comes to beefed-up enforcement of immigration laws.