PORTLAND, Maine (AP) Maine Public Safety Commissioner Michael Saushuck says a secretive state police unit gathered information on Maine citizens involved in legal activities but insisted “we’re not spying on people.”
Legislators on the Judiciary, and Criminal Justice and Public Safety committees spent more than two hours Wednesday asking questions about the so-called fusion center created after the 9/11 terrorist attacks to collect, analyze and share intelligence between the state and federal government.
Sauschuck said repeatedly that the center is not an investigative agency and that it gathers open-source information.
The fusion center’s activities came under scrutiny after a federal whistleblower lawsuit alleged that the gathered and stored intelligence on Mainers engaged in legal activities.
