Maine Governor Janet Mills loses her temper on camera after being confronted about a decades-old cocaine scandal, casting doubt on her Senate ambitions.
Maine’s Democrat governor just had a meltdown on camera.
She thought she could avoid questions about her past forever.
But Janet Mills lost her cool when she got asked about this cocaine scandal that could derail her Senate hopes.
Janet Mills drops F-bomb when confronted about alleged drug use
Maine Governor Janet Mills was caught completely off-guard last month during a trip to Washington, D.C. when someone had the audacity to ask her about her alleged cocaine use.
"What the f—?" Mills snapped when asked if "sniffing cocaine at work" is a "human right."¹
The flustered governor refused to answer the question and ignored a follow-up about how much "an eight-ball cost with inflation" before hurrying away from the confrontation.
That awkward moment was just captured on video and shared with Fox News Digital after bombshell reporting revealed the Department of Justice contradicted Mills’ decades-old claim that investigations into her alleged cocaine use were politically motivated.
Here’s where this gets really interesting.
The cocaine investigation that won’t go away
Back in early 1990, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maine, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Maine’s Bureau of Intergovernmental Drug Enforcement launched a full investigation into Mills after a drug suspect accused her of using cocaine while she was serving as a district attorney.¹
Mills has spent over three decades claiming she was the victim of a political witch hunt because she was a Democrat who criticized law enforcement agencies for inflating arrest numbers.
She painted herself as this brave whistleblower who was being targeted for speaking truth to power.
"It’s scary," Mills told the Portland Press Herald back in 1991. "Maine apparently has a secret police force at work that can ruin the reputation of any who opposes it."¹
The investigation was eventually dropped without charges being filed, but Mills never let anyone forget that she thought the whole thing was bogus.
DOJ memo destroys Mills’ victim narrative
Now a March 1995 memorandum from the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility has surfaced that completely demolishes Mills’ sob story.
The memo was addressed to the deputy attorney general – Merrick Garland was serving as the principal associate deputy attorney general at the time.¹
The DOJ found that there was no misconduct by federal or state authorities investigating Mills’ case.
Translation: the investigation was legitimate and proper.
But wait, it gets even better.
The DOJ also concluded that all of Mills’ claims were "unsubstantiated," including her allegations that she was politically targeted, that investigators solicited false testimony, that witnesses were coerced, and that drug enforcement agents leaked information to the press.¹
"The USAO in Maine conducted a proper investigation of serious allegations; no misconduct of any kind can fairly be attributed to any member of that office," the DOJ concluded in 1995.¹
So much for being a victim of political persecution.
Mills made herself the story
Instead of keeping quiet during the investigation, Mills went on a public relations offensive.
According to the memo, Mills "announced publicly that she was the victim of a smear campaign" in 1991.¹
She told reporters: "I’d say it’s awfully coincidental that this investigation started and was leaked to the press shortly after my public comments about the lack of accountability at BIDE."¹
Mills also complained that prosecutors would have to "look over his or her shoulder every time you put somebody in jail and wonder whether that person is going to find an audience down the street in the BIDE office or down the road in the U.S. Attorney’s Office to say dirty things about you."¹
The woman has never met a conspiracy theory she didn’t like.
History repeating itself
Fast forward to 2025, and Mills is still playing the same victim card.
Earlier this year, she accused President Donald Trump of leading a "politically directed investigation" into Maine’s Department of Education.¹
During a White House meeting in February, Mills got into a public spat with Trump over biological men competing in women’s sports.
When Trump told her to comply with his executive order or lose federal funding, Mills shot back: "We’ll see you in court."¹
Some things never change.
Senate ambitions in jeopardy
Here’s why this matters for Mills’ political future.
Republican Senator Susan Collins is up for re-election in 2026, and with Mills’ governorship term-limited next year, she would be a competitive Democrat candidate to challenge Collins.¹
Mills tried to play coy in April, saying she didn’t "plan to run for another office" but admitted that "things change week to week, month to month," leaving the door open to a potential Senate bid.¹
But this cocaine scandal from the 1990s isn’t going away.
And if Mills thinks she can lose her temper and drop F-bombs every time someone brings up her past, she’s going to have a very rough campaign ahead of her.
The woman who spent decades claiming she was the victim of political persecution has now been exposed by the very Department of Justice that investigated her.
Mills can’t hide behind conspiracy theories anymore.
¹ Fox News Digital, "Dem governor drops F-bomb when trolled for alleged cocaine use," July 1, 2025.
