By Paul Mills
On the evening of April 1, 1940, State Controller William Runnells sustained two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the chest. Runnells’ nearly successful suicide attempt would punctuate the beginning of the last legislative proceeding in Maine government that sought removal of a high ranking government official.
Though it’s been nearly four score years since this dramatic episode in Maine history, what the state endured at that time can provide some insight into how the nation might be guided in the proceedings now unfolding against President Trump in Washington.
Controller Runnells – unlike his nearly anonymous counterpart today – Douglas Cotnoir – was in effect the deputy governor of Maine. He not only was allowed to hold the state’s purse strings under three different governors over the previous decade but also prominently hobnobbed with them. He would even represent each of his Governors, whether it be Democrat Louis Brann, Republicans Tudor Gardiner or Lewis Barrows, at ceremonial proceedings. He was, in effect both a surrogate prince as well as an ersatz prime minister.
All this came to an abrupt end in early 1940 with the revelation that Runnells’ had embezzled $157,000 in state funds, much of it traced to cash in his personal safe deposit box.
Runnells soon stepped aside. There was understandable finger pointing for those perceived to have looked the other way at his malfeasance. Among them: the state auditor and deputy state treasurer, both of whom acceded to Governor Barrows’ demand for their resignations.
One high ranking officer, State Treasurer Belmont Smith, refused to bow out. It was upon Smith’s shoulders that Barrows understandably felt some responsibility for Runnells’ misconduct might fall. The governor, however, could not require Smith to resign because he was not a gubernatorial appointee, the treasurer being elected by the legislature.
Smith retained his position by a 15 to 14 vote in the Senate and a 69 to 55 vote in the House. (Just six months later the legislature re-elected Smith to another term, an outcome that might offer a modicum of encouragement perhaps to today’s supporters of the present White House incumbent.)
What does Maine’s last full-fledged legislative removal proceedings have to teach the nation today?
First, it was quick. It was a mere two weeks from the time the legislature convened until a verdict was reached.
Second, there were few partisan overtones. Nowhere, in the 250-page transcript does one find the expression “Republican” or “Democrat.”
The actual voting bears out this absence of ardent partisanship. In the House, 43 Republicans voted to remove Smith – even though he was himself a Republican – and 60 in the GOP voted against removal. Ten Democrats voted yes and nine voted no.
The story was the same in the Senate. Thirteen Republicans voted in favor of taking Smith out, 14 were against. Of the two Democrats, Lewiston’s Jean Charles Boucher favored removal while his fellow Lewiston senator, Bernard Harkins, voted against it.
What helped streamline the process in Maine was that the two houses met jointly to hear all the evidence and testimony. Though in the U.S. Senate each of the 100 members can, through the chair, pose their own questions of witnesses, no such separate questioning was allowed in Maine in 1940.
After the trial, the House and Senate adjourned to separate meeting places to vote by a simple majority.
There’s still another way in which Maine moved things along quicker than appears likely to occur in Washington in the coming weeks. In Maine, the presiding officer was given more power to make procedural rulings. Such decisions by House Speaker Donald Philbrick, presiding officer at the 1940 trial, could not be overridden by the members themselves. That’s a lot different than the last two presidential impeachment trials when the interpretations of law by the presiding officer – the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court – were allowed to be debated and appealed from the federal rules are similar to those that would exist if a judge in a criminal or civil trial could be overruled by a majority of jurors each time an individual item of evidence were submitted.
It’s somewhat ironic that the federal impeachment machinery is more cumbersome in this and other respects than that in Maine in that it has been invoked no fewer than five times in the last 33 years. Aside from the cases of presidents Clinton and Trump, Congress has handled the trials of three U.S. District Court judges in this period of time.
Maine has managed to almost avoid such proceedings altogether, however. This is because the Maine legislature – overwhelmed in having to conduct six of them in a single 1913 session alone – gave up its removal authority for many of the state’s public officials in 1917. That’s when it surrendered its authority to impeach prosecutors and sheriffs, for example, to the governor and executive council. (The governor alone has more of that authority since the council was abolished in 1977.) Thus, proceedings to remove elected public officials in Maine normally play out in a forum outside the legislative arena. This was the case with the York County District attorney in 1975 and the Cumberland County Register of Deeds in 1989.
Though not since the week the British evacuated Dunkirk in 1940 has Maine had what amounted to an impeachment trial – the technical name being “removal upon address” – Maine still has something to teach the rest of the country both about how to conduct them. It also can weigh in on how a government can arrange its affairs in a way that tends to avoid them.
As for the protagonist of the scandal that gave rise to the Belmont Smith proceedings, William Runnells survived his gunshot wounds long enough to appear in a courtroom six months later to plead guilty to embezzlement. He was serving the first year of a five- to 10-year prison term when he died of a heart attack at the age of 45 in 1941.
Paul Mills is a Farmington attorney well known for his analyses and historical understanding of public affairs in Maine; he can be reached by e-mail pmills@myfairpoint.net.
The Impeachment of Donald Trump started the day he became President almost three years ago. What has gone on in Washington by the Democrats is a disgrace to our nation and the Democrat Party. Hillary Clinton lost and this country cannot face that fact. The ‘Shadow Government that John F. Kennedy warned us against has been operating since his murder in Dallas and it is Donald Trump exposing them and that fosters the hatred to remove him from office. You may not like his method or his style but he is moving the country in the right direction away from the ‘Unelected Shadow Government’..
Impeach him then lock him up. It has nothing to do with parties or conspiracies, but blatant crimes committed.
No matter what happens with the impeachment process, it will be interesting in 20 years to see how history views this administration. We are only 3 years into Trump’s first term and we have had sex scandals and hush money paid, penalties for stealing funds from charity, multiples administration officials indicted and convicted, alienation of our allies through trade wars, inconsistent policies, and pulling out of established treaties, and questions of personal family financial enrichment and this is just the short list. No matter how this goes for Trump, it has changed our expectations for any future presidents.
The problem with the impeachment of President Trump is this. Nancy Pelosi said that it would have to be bipartisan, she lied. Adam Schiff couldn’t actually find anything in the call transcript and “ad libbed” lied about what was actually in it. Once they got underway the only witnesses they had besides a Naval officer ( that broke chain of command a court martial offense) had nothing to offer besides opinions and hurt feelings. I don’t have much more confidence in the spineless Republicans in the senate. Chuck has already come out with demands and all McConell wants to do is throw it out so the dems can come up with more cockamamie articles of impeachment. This will go in the history books of the straw that broke the camels back for our Republic. This country will never heal from peoples hurt feelings over Hillary losing in 2016. How sad it is that our country can be ruled by a deep state of snowflakes and when the other side tries to show proof of mis dealings the name calling starts.
It is so refreshing to read what “The Lion Roars-The Eagle Soars” wrote. We are so tired of listening to the daily bashing of our President. He is far from “perfect” like the rest of us but he is our President and deserves our respect along with our prayers.
Yeah, but unlike today, there was an actual crime committed(embezzlement) so naturally the treasurer would be suspect for not catching the errors or possibly be a party to the crime, so that part makes sense. The prceedings of the past few months have been completely onesided. Obstruction of congress, is absolute nonsense, especially when Fmr. President Obama did the exact same thing during the Operation Fast and Furious investigation, the house subpoenaed several documents from Obama to then AG Holder, Obama declined(basically pleaded the 5th, because only the president can order the AG around). So if we are playing by Rep. Adam Schiff’s rules, Obama should have been impeached for using his executive authority to not comply with and stonewall congress. Because that is the charge leveled against Trump for doing just that, not complying with the house and giving them his tax returns and any documents that pertain to US/Ukraine/Russia relations. And Schiff still seems to think that Trump played a role in getting Russia to help him win the 2016 election, which apparently to Schiff, 3 years worth of investigations are not sufficient enough to turn up wrong doing by the President(Which Schiff claims to have proof of Trump’s wrongdoing but has of yet to produce anything.
But the politics of the 40s can’t really be compared to today, people were of a different mind set than they are today, back then it was, respect everybody until they give you cause not to, today it’s, respect nobody even if they earn it. If house democrats put half as much effort into doing their job for the people of this country rather than spending every waking moment trying to come up with new and pointless ways to carry out a coup on the President, imagine the things that could get done.
Interesting facts and it’s too bad that the parties have to be so divided. I have my own ideas of how this may go and I will just leave it at that
Hey, Lion:
I’m surprised your remark made the paper. What you have said is the EXACT TRUTH. Not many will admit it,
but the Dems/Libs/haters-of-Trump will do anything…and I do mean ANYTHING to get him out of office.
So Amen, brother.
The Lions Roar -The Eagle Soars NAILED IT!
We are sick of the foolishness and unfairness. And really tired of people thinking the American people are stupid.
This comment is a response to the column of Paul Mills about impeachment.. Who knew that the procedure in Maine would be so different. Thank you. Always a pleasure to learn more about Maine history!
We can only hope that the process in the U.S. congress proceeds speedily and that the facts are in fact relevant to the decision made in the senate.
We can blame the Politian’s all we want for the mess we are in, but bottom line the fault is ours.. the American people. We keep voting basically the same people in to office again and again and expect t different results. Seems like somewhere I heard that is the definition of insanity. How about we do away with this republican/ Democratic crap which is just plain asinine and vote in people who will do what is right for the people and not some political party. I know, I know it will never happen, so just stop whining about it people and just bend over!
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE…for 3 years the dems spend our tax dollars to try and impeach..all that money for 3 yrs they wasted could have been spent on helping the American people..instead the dems tried and lied to prove the president did wrong. Well time will tell who is telling the truth and those who abused their power…heaven help them.. Get over it
I enjoyed reading this and the many other informative articles by Mr. Mills. Thank you. Our Government is in such shambles. I don’t believe any outcome between the Democrats vs. Republicans will be the answer. It’s going to take a new breed of politician not stuck in the now, one who wants to see a brighter future for all to give the US it’s pride back.
Lion Soars pretty much nailed it. Trump has done more for this country as a whole in 3 years than any President before him did in 8. All the trade deals, bringing jobs back, the booming economy. But no, you have to hate him because he doesn’t speak politically correct and offends you. This little resistance movement the democrats have been putting on since the day he got elected will go down as the biggest hissy fit in history by a party and will solidify republican (America first) values for decades to come and I am happy I’ll be here to see it.
All of you looking for an all-inclusive whether you work or not, I’m important too, hand holding gimme gimme gimme kind of life should head to California. I’ll hold the door.
The Lion Roars is right on. Stop this impeachment process and work on real problems in this county….like Trump is trying to do!!
Lets settle down to business and bring back a simple way of doing things. How about a flat tax. WOW scary world without loopholes. How about some moderation on wall street on the necessities of life like grain,heating oil,power and the like. This would go a long way towards giving a hand to those who have a little pride and really want to support themselves.When is it going to sink in that a lot of us really dont mind being poor as long as we dont have to freeze, roast, or starve doing it. That house thats being bought with free money from the government for any reason take it back when they are done with it and use it for the next ones that need it dont start a dynasty. What has this got to do with politics? Easy! Entitlement vs Personal Responsibility. Getting more money back at the end of the year then you paid in taxes, right our founding fathers would all turn over in their graves at that idea. Stepping into someones life and making personal decisions for them,forget it, you will get a lot further with intelligent people by wearing a t-shirt stating” you
can but I dont”. The scary part is the longer the far left and far right people think about these things the more normal they seam to them. Change often brings fear but I have to agree with “LOVE TO LEARN’ that we need a new beginning in politics.
Those who defend the “Truth” over the truth and facts based on the actual evidence of corruption I was just wondering if you had any links or evidence to back the conspiracy theory? I hear a lot of angry words, threats, and wild misinformation and conspiracy but I don’t see any solid evidence that Trump did not ask a foreign government for help with his political opponent. Obstructing Congress in front of the American people has been his MO since it began. I’ve read a lot different sources on the impeachment but refuse to read biased and misleading (click bait) opinion articles trying to spin the evidence presented. As for loyalty to the president, when they deserve it. Loyalty to my Country, always. This admin is the most openly corrupt group yet to worm their way into office. Whining and screaming is their only defensive maneuver but that seems to be enough for the crowd.
Where is the America I grew up in!
Right on, its a mess. None of these politicians get in trouble, Hillary selling 20% of our urainium, smashing her subpenaed phones, & router, bengahzie, the opiode crisis, (she helped make laws, for no responsibility of the drug maker, shipping 5 million pills to a small community, or the doc giving a 1000 pills to an addict) Its mind boggling she could even run. Joe’s quid pro quo, on tape, billion dollar china deals. Little liing adam schiff. Look at California homeless crisis in nancy’s community, its descussting, help President Trump, call your representatives, tell them to stop wasting all this $$$, & time, do their job and go after the real crimes!! Look at ilhan omar, shes got some serious crimes, ( married her brother, mis use of funds, and more) They hate Trump because he does not need the money, so he does not play their games of shady deals, and hidden agendas. Tom Fitton of judicial watch has tons & tons of real evidence, yet politicians & judges do not help out. The people need to stand up,stand together & make a difference. Call your representatives.
I must admit, Mr Trump’s time in office has been very efficient. Who else can say they are going to a meeting, down at the jail house, and get to talk to some of their best men, the finest? Very efficient to keep gathering more into the same spot. I wonder if they will share a room with him?? You know, people like his former “fixer” lawyer, campaign manager? NSC advisor? maybe even his current personal lawyer?
Oh and the costs of all that investigation into the Russian connection, didn’t Mr Manafort pay for most of that while he was waiting for his room to be prepped? (at the jail?)