You are on page 1of 2

November 5, 2010

By E-Mail and Regular Mail


Daniel I. Billings, Esq.
Marden, Dubord, Bernier & Stevens
P.O. Box 708
Waterville, ME 04903-0708

REQUEST FOR INSPECTION OF DOCUMENTS

Dear Mr. Billings,

The staff of the Maine Ethics Commission requests an opportunity to inspect


documentation of expenses incurred by your clients in connection with the Cutler Files
website. The documentation will assist the Commission in evaluating your clients’
argument that the amount of money spent on the website was relatively small and less
than the $100 threshold for independent expenditure reporting.

Payments for research. We request the opportunity to review documentation of all


payments made for research that was referred to on the website, including, for
example, the costs of news articles, public filings, subscription fees for databases or
other information sources, or books purchased for purposes of research. The request
is for documents that show the name of the payer, but your clients may redact any
personal information in the documents that has no relation to the Cutler Files website

Payments for hosting, domain name, and website. We request an opportunity to


review documentation of all payments made for hosting of the website, purchase of
the domain name, and graphical or audio elements in the website.

Other payments. We request an opportunity to review documentation of all other


payments made in connection with the Cutler Files website, including payments to
others for their work in procuring research for the website or other services.

Research binders. Witnesses have informed the Commission staff that research used
in the Cutler Files website was compiled in one or two binders. We request an
opportunity to inspect those research binders.
Daniel I. Billings, Esq.
Page 2
November 5, 2010

If we schedule an interview of your clients, we suggest that Paul Lavin and I inspect the
documents prior to the interview.

Thank you for your clients’ cooperation with this request.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Wayne
Executive Director

cc: Assistant Attorney General Phyllis Gardiner

You might also like