Aaron M. Frey (born c. 1978) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 58th Attorney General of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

since 2019. He formerly served as a Democratic representative in the Maine House of Representatives. He is currently being investigated by his own party for a sexual relationship with a married direct subordinate as well as his handling of disclosure.

Early life and career

Frey was born and raised in Dixmont, Maine. He is the son of Michael Frey and Cynthia Bean-Frey. Frey attended Saint Anselm College, where he served as

student body president The student government president (sometimes called "student ''body'' president," "student ''council'' president" or "''school'' president") is generally the highest-ranking officer of a student union. While a student government group and a class p ...

. He graduated from Saint Anselm with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in politics, and later received a Juris Doctor degree from

Roger Williams University School of Law Roger Williams University School of Law is the law school of Roger Williams University, a private university in Bristol, Rhode Island. It is the only law school in Rhode Island. It was the first graduate degree program established by the universi ...

. He later started a law firm in Bangor. In 2012 he was elected to the Maine House of Representatives. From December 2014 until his resignation, he represented the 124th district, which includes parts of Bangor and Orono.

Maine Attorney General

In December 2018, Democrats in the Maine Legislature chose Frey as their nominee for Maine Attorney General. Upon his nomination, he resigned his house seat to comply with a

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

provision that prohibits state legislators from being elected to higher offices. He succeeded

Janet Mills Janet Trafton Mills (born December 30, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the 75th governor of Maine since January 2019. She previously served as the Maine Attorney General on two occasions. A member of the Democratic Pa ...

, who was elected

Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

. Upon taking office, Frey stated that he would consider involving Maine in multi-state lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies. He later joined a lawsuit accusing drug manufacturers of price inflation. In February 2019, Frey became one of sixteen state attorneys general to join a lawsuit against the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

over

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Trump's decision to declare a

national emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

. The emergency declaration was made to allow the President to allocate funding for a wall on the

United States-Mexico border United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. In April 2023, Frey announced that he was in a romantic relationship with an employee under his direct supervision in the Attorney General's Office and called it "an error in judgment" to not reassign the employee to a new supervisor. In an email to office staff, Frey identified the employee as an Assistant Attorney General and disclosed that the relationship had begun in August 2022. The revelation was made after the ''

Bangor Daily News The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine. The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...

'' began investigating tips about Frey's relationship.

References

External links

Maine Attorney General
government website
Aaron Frey
profile at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in s ...

Aaron Frey
profile at National Association of Attorneys General
Aaron Frey
profile at Democratic Attorneys General Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Frey, Aaron 1970s births Living people 21st-century American politicians Maine Attorneys General Democratic Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Politicians from Bangor, Maine Roger Williams University alumni Saint Anselm College alumni Year of birth missing (living people)