Gov. Paul LePage has released his informal documentation on drug arrests and they don't back up his claim that out-of-state blacks and Hispanics account for "90-plus percent" of heroin-trafficking arrests.

LePage's claims at a town hall meeting last month were met with skepticism, but he insisted he had collected news clippings backing them up.

On Monday, he released copies of the three-ringed binder after The Associated Press and other media organizations requested the documents under the Maine Freedom of Access Act.

An Associated Press analysis of the Republican governor's documents show black and Hispanic defendants from outside Maine comprised no more than about one-third of the arrests for heroin and opioid-derived drugs in LePage's binder.

The governor's office stood by LePage's remarks but said the governor wants to move on. His spokeswoman noted that the governor's primary concern is working with law enforcement and lawmakers to find ways to stop the state's drug epidemic. —AUGUSTA, Maine (AP)

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