Salem GOP State Rep. Files Bill Aimed At Impeaching Concord's Executive Councilor, A Democrat

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org

CONCORD, NH — Rep. Joe Sweeney, R-Salem, has filed intent to sponsor legislation which would look at whether there is enough grounds to impeach Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill, D-Lebanon.

Liot Hill called it a "political attack," and an example of "unserious people doing unserious things."

It is among more than 1,000 LSRs, or legislative service requests which have been filed in the House and Senate for the upcoming session beginning this winter.

Sweeney did not immediately reply to an email request to explain what his bill would try to accomplish. But in an Aug. 15 story in InDepthNH.org, Sweeney called on Liot Hill to resign.

He claimed she used her office for “political lawfare” against New Hampshire’s new voter-ID law.

“Published emails show Executive Councilor Karen Liot Hill used her official office to help a partisan, Washington D.C. law firm recruit plaintiffs to sue New Hampshire over our voter-ID and absentee safeguards. That’s not public service; that’s political lawfare run out of a taxpayer-funded inbox,” Sweeney said.

Liot Hill said she is doing her job to protect people’s right to vote. And she has refused to step down.

“My job as an elected official is to advocate for my constituents, which is exactly what I do every day.

“Republicans are now attacking me for fighting for the rights of my constituents to vote. This is an attempt to distract from their failure to lower the cost of housing, healthcare, education, and property taxes for the people of New Hampshire,” Liot Hill said in an email.

Those attacks include a complaint about campaign spending, she said. Back in December she said she received a request from the Attorney General’s Office elections division because of the complaint. She said she raised about $150,000 for her campaign. As a result of the complaint she said she amended her filings and repaid her campaign about $2,000 mostly for clothing and some smaller items.

Liot Hill, the only Democrat on the state's five-member Executive Council, also recused herself from voting on the confirmation of Attorney General John Formella last week for a second term. He was confirmed on a vote of 4-0 with one abstention.

Sweeney’s email said Executive Councilors can be impeached by the House and tried by the Senate for “corruption, malpractice, or maladministration. What we’ve seen, leveraging an official position to aid outside litigants against our state, squarely raises maladministration and malpractice in office.”

After Sweeney filed the LSR to investigate whether there are grounds for impeachment, Liot Hill went to social media to say, "Republicans filed articles of impeachment against me for fighting for the rights of my constituents to vote. This is not a legal question; this is a political attack.

"Republicans will do anything to distract from their failure to lower the cost of housing, healthcare, education, and property taxes for the people of New Hampshire."

She also wrote "my job as an Executive Councilor is to vote on state contracts and gubernatorial nominations to manage our state infrastructure, and most importantly - to advocate for my constituents, including their right to vote. This is serious work and I will continue taking it seriously."

Liot Hill represents Executive Council District 2 which includes 81 communities in the Concord area, Upper Valley and much of Grafton County, including the Littleton area.

She is in her first term.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.