State and local officials have offered limited public comment as scrutiny increases around nonprofit oversight and political relationships. The lack of clear responses has raised questions about transparency and accountability.

The chaos around the Mogadishu Store underscores how taxpayer-funded systems, weak oversight, and political protection combine to normalize corruption while demonizing enforcement.

David Jones, Republican gubernatorial candidate, joins us to break down Greenland policy questions, ICE’s expected presence in Maine, and updates in the Gateway Community scandal.

With Trump cutting sanctuary funding and TPS for Somalis, we dig into what that means for Maine’s migrant hotels, Mills’ quiet maneuvering, and mayors now warning residents about ICE.

Maine Wire reporter Seamus Othot joins Tom and Jon to unpack how Bangor used COVID money to hire a homeless czar while MSAD 75 rolls out sex-abuse lessons from a radical trans-aligned nonprofit for five-year-olds.

Maine Wire TV breaks down Graham Platner’s IVF detour to Norway, the Lewiston shooting fund steering millions into NGOs, and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ conflicting comments on non-citizens on Maine’s voter rolls.

Steve Robinson joins Maine Wire Editor Tom Shattuck and Maine Wire Reporter Jon Fetherston to break down a wild two days in Maine politics, including Jon getting assaulted at the Lewiston City Council and Jon getting temporarily barred from accessing the House Chambers.

Amy Sussman is the aunt of Maxx Hathaway, one of the 18 victims killed in the Lewiston mass shooting on October 25, 2023. Maxx Hathaway was fatally shot at Schemengees Bar & Grille, where he had been celebrating receiving his college diploma earlier that day. Amy has spoken publicly about the tragedy, including expressing concerns over the distribution of funds raised for victims and the community through the “Lewiston-Auburn Area Response Fund” managed by the Maine Community Foundation. She questions the allocation of approximately $1.9 million to nonprofits rather than directly to victims’ families and survivors, while noting ongoing needs like counseling and financial support for her family. In this interview, she details her attempts to get answers from the Maine Community Foundation.

Rep. David Boyer (R-ME) represents Maine House District 87 (Mechanic Falls and part of Poland), and he’s currently the campaign manager for Republican gubernatorial candidate David Jones. A business owner with an antique furniture dealership, Boyer led Maine’s 2016 marijuana legalization campaign for the Marijuana Policy Project, managed Eric Brakey’s 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, and directed the Defense of Liberty PAC. As a ranking GOP member of the Veterans & Legal Affairs Committee at the State House, Boyer has spearheaded a Government Oversight Committee complaint targeting alleged corruption and mismanagement at the Office of Cannabis Policy (OCP).

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Abdi Nor Iftin was born in Mogadishu amid Somalia’s multi-polar civil war. As a child he learned English from forbidden Hollywood movies featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, earning the nickname “Abdi American.” He survived warlords, famine, and Al-Shabaab death threats while working as a translator for Western journalists and speaking out on international radio. In 2014 he won the U.S. visa lottery and resettled in Maine. Today he is the author of the acclaimed memoirs Call Me American and the children’s version Falcons Over Mogadishu. An ardent proponent of integration and Americanism, Iftin has sharply critiqued leaders within Maine and Minnesota’s Somali diasporas for failing to assimilate into American life.

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