Political operative, husband of former gubernatorial candidate named as editors of Cutler Files
12.27.2010
Attorney Sigmund Schutz is quoted by the Sun Journal on public access law.
LEWISTON — A longtime Maine political consultant and the husband of a Democratic candidate for governor have been identified as co-editors of the controversial Cutler Files website.
As previously reported by the Portland Press Herald in October, the Sun Journal has confirmed through multiple sources that the site was the work of Dennis Bailey, the owner of Portland-based Savvy Inc., and Thom Rhoads, the husband of former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rosa Scarcelli of Portland.
The so-called Cutler Files, titled "The Secret File on Eliot Cutler," was a compilation of research, much of it obtained on the Web, on independent gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler's personal, financial, political and professional background, some of which Cutler disputed as incorrect and defamatory.
The site, which was taken off-line in November, and its co-editors have been the subject of a Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Elections Practices investigation.
On Monday, the commission voted that one of the two men had violated state election laws by failing to disclose who owned the site. Commissioners voted to fine that man — known only as John Doe No. 2 — $200. The other editor, John Doe No. 1, was not fined.
In a post on his blog, SavvySpin.com, Thursday night, Bailey admitted he was one of the co-authors and largely charged Maine's media with ignoring the substance of the files.
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