AUGUSTA — The Kennebec Journal wants a judge to order the state to provide documents it received in John Richardson’s effort to get public funding for his gubernatorial run.
MaineToday Media, owner of the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, Morning Sentinel in Waterville and the Portland Press Herald, filed a complaint  in Kennebec County Superior Court against the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices after it refused to release records.
The ethics panel says the documents are confidential by statute because they involve intelligence and investigative information, and because they have been referred to the Attorney General’s Office.
The appeal is brought under the state’s Freedom of Access Act and seeks an expedited hearing. No hearing was set as of May 21.