Posted Yesterday at 4:00 AM Updated at 9:31 AM

Luxury hotels, fine dining for LePage on taxpayers’ dime

Some of the $35,000 spent by the governor and staff in D.C. is reimbursed, but he withholds details on expenses and dozens of ‘private appointments.’

AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage, his staff and security detail spent more than $35,000 on luxury hotels, restaurants and travel to Washington, D.C., over a three-month period last spring as Maine’s Republican governor attended meetings or sought audiences with members of Congress and the Trump administration.

LePage’s appointment calendar also lists dozens of “private appointments” during his four trips to the nation’s capital this winter and spring. His office has refused to provide more details about those appointments.

Taxpayers footed most of the bill for the governor’s travels, although his office said some expenses were reimbursed by outside groups such as the Republican Governors Association. It was unclear last week how much Maine state government was reimbursed, however.

Four months have passed since the Maine Sunday Telegram/Portland Press Herald first sought LePage’s travel expenses, and his office has yet to fully comply with the public records requests under Maine’s Freedom of Access Act. However, documents from Maine State Police show that the governor’s security team, which is required to accompany him on his travels, routinely paid $300 to $500 a night – and sometimes as much as $750 per night – for rooms at exclusive hotels in a downtown area that offers dozens of other, less expensive lodgings.