Maine's Dem governor laughs off questions when confronted about alleged past cocaine use
"Janet Mills, did cocaine give you the courage to stand up to President Trump at the governor's breakfast?" Mills was asked earlier this month when confronted during a tour of Brodis Blueberries in Maine.
The questioner was referring to a National Governors Association (NGA) meeting at the White House in February where Mills and Trump publicly sparred over biological men playing in women's sports.
Last month, Fox News Digital exclusive reporting revealed the Department of Justice contradicted Mills' decades-old claim that the investigation over her alleged cocaine use was politically motivated.
After Mills seemingly laughed at the question and kept walking, she was asked a follow-up question.
"Have you ever been under the influence while making critical decisions for the state of Maine?"
Mills continued walking and declined to answer that question as well.
Fox News Digital reached out to Mills' office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In early 1990, the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) in Maine, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Maine's Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement (BIDE) investigated Mills, then a sitting district attorney in Maine, after a drug suspect accused her of using cocaine.
The investigation was eventually dropped without charges being filed. Mills has maintained that the investigation never had any merit and that she was politically targeted for her Democratic affiliation and criticism of BIDE. In 1990, she and two other district attorneys in Maine criticized BIDE for inflating arrest numbers through excessive enforcement of low-level drug offenders.
"It's scary," Mills told the Portland Press Herald in November 1991. "Maine apparently has a secret police force at work that can ruin the reputation of any who opposes it."
A March 1995 memorandum from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility (DOJ/OPR), addressed to the deputy attorney general – Merrick Garland was serving as the principal associate deputy attorney general – and unearthed by Fox News Digital, refutes Mills' claim. It revealed that there was no misconduct by federal or state authorities investigating her case.
According to the DOJ memo, WCSH-TV reported in December 1990 that Mills was being investigated by a federal grand jury for drug use, citing law enforcement sources. Mills later sued that reporter for libel and slander. The report also prompted Mills' attorney to demand a grand jury investigation, arguing that "the press received leaks from BIDE law enforcement officials."
The results of the libel and slander suit are no longer available. The docket for the case showed that the records were disposed of in 2015 in accordance with policy. However, a 1991 Lewiston Sun-Journal article appears to state that the effort to "end drug probe rumors" was thrown out by a judge.
Earlier this month, Mills was confronted in Washington, D.C., about her alleged cocaine use, Fox News Digital exclusively reported, in an exchange where she said, "What the f---?" when asked if "sniffing cocaine at work" is a "human right."
Longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026, and with Mills' governorship term limited next year, she would be a competitive Democratic candidate to challenge Collins.
Mills indicated in April that she did not "plan to run for another office," but admitted that "things change week to week, month to month," leaving the door open to a potential Senate bid.
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