U.S. Sen. Susan Collins voted to convict Donald Trump at the close of his second impeachment trial on Saturday, though the former president was acquitted of a Democratic charge over his role in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
It was the Republican senator’s first vote to convict a president in her 24-year tenure. She voted to acquit Trump in his first impeachment trial in 2020, which came during her bitter re-election campaign for a fifth term. She voted against her party to acquit Democrat Bill Clinton in 1999.
Collins was one of only seven of the necessary 17 Republicans needed to convict Trump of a charge from House Democrats that he incited the riot at the Capitol that killed five people — including a Capitol police officer — and led to the evacuation of senators from the chamber as they certified President Joe Biden’s victory over the former Republican president. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who caucuses with Democrats, voted to convict Trump on Saturday. READ MORE
The same global consulting firm that paid nearly $600 million in a multistate settlement for “turbocharging” sales of opioids has received millions from the Maine Department of Labor to help the agency manage a crush of unemployment claims during the pandemic.
McKinsey & Co. has received $6.3 million from a no-bid contract with the Labor Department since June 2020. A spokesperson for the agency said that McKinsey provided analytics, revamped the agency’s website to handle the explosion in unemployment claims and helped identify fraudulent claims.
The contract, which currently runs through March, is similar to other agreements between McKinsey and agencies in other states during a pandemic that has stressed both unemployment systems and public health agencies.LISTEN TO THE REPORT
Another four Mainers have died as 160 coronavirus cases have been reported across the state, Maine health officials said Saturday.
The number of coronavirus cases diagnosed in the past 14 days statewide is 3,095. This is an estimation of the current number of active cases in the state, as the Maine CDC is no longer tracking recoveries for all patients. That’s down from 3,446 on Friday.
A resident of Kennebec County, a resident of Franklin County and two residents from Penobscot County succumbed to the virus, bringing the statewide death toll to 647. READ MORE
Maine purchased more than 2 million potentially counterfeit N95 respirators that are now part of a nationwide recall and replacement effort, and 161,000 of the masks have been distributed to school nurses, health care facilities and state workers in Maine since November. READ MORE
The Maine Monitor and ProPublica found that more than a quarter of Maine attorneys disciplined in the past decade for serious professional misconduct were hired as lawyers for the poor. Sex crimes and felony convictions were among the most severe infractions overlooked in the only state without public defenders. Defendants paid the price. READ MORE
