>>> This will go down as one of the all-time classic public-records requests. On August 25, 2016, Maine Governor Paul LePage (Republican) was under the impression that he'd been called a racist by State Representative Drew Gattine (Democrat), so LePage called him and left the following message:
“Mr. Gattine, this is Governor Paul Richard LePage. I would like to talk to you about your comments about my being a racist, you cocksucker. And you, you. I want to talk to you. You want. I want you to prove that I’m a racist. I’ve spent my life helping black people, and you little son of a bitch, socialist cocksucker. You. I need you to. This freakin'. I want you to record this and make it public because I'm after you. Thank you.”
Later that day, LePage told reporters that he'd left an angry message for Gattine, so they filed a request under the state's Freedom of Access Act. The Portland Press Herald posted it here, along with some more information about that day's events (including LePage telling reporters that he wished he could duel Gattine and shoot him between the eyes).
Newspaper articles have a way of disappearing, usually because of website redesign, linkrot, or getting rotated behind a paywall, so The Memory Hole 2 is mirroring this voicemail above and on the Internet Archive and Youtube.
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