Gubernatorial Candidate Warmington Targets Gov. Ayotte Over MacDonald Ethics Scandal

By Damien Fisher, NH Journal

Chief Justice Gordon MacDonald’s surprise resignation, forced by his ethics lapses regarding a $50,000 payment to former assistant Dianne Martin, has become an issue in the New Hampshire governor’s race.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Cinde Warmington is using MacDonald’s resignation to press for public hearings into the conduct of three remaining New Hampshire Supreme Court justices — and to question Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s oversight of the court.

Warmington previously called on Ayotte to delay nominating MacDonald’s replacement until after the November election. On Wednesday, she expanded that demand, calling for an investigation of Associate Justices Patrick Donovan, Melissa Countway, and Bryan Gould over their involvement in the personnel decisions behind MacDonald’s ethics violations.

“While I am pleased that the Judicial Conduct Committee took action against Gordon MacDonald, there are serious questions that remain unanswered. MacDonald’s resignation followed revelations about his mishandling of an internal personnel matter involving Dianne Martin. However, last October, Justices Donovan, Countway, and Gould all joined MacDonald in a statement defending MacDonald’s actions and stating that ‘every personnel decision regarding Ms. Martin was made collectively by the Supreme Court.’ This statement warrants a full investigation into the conduct of each member of the court who participated.”

MacDonald resigned Tuesday under a settlement with the state Judicial Conduct Committee. He admitted violating three provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct in connection with the removal and rehiring of Dianne Martin, a longtime associate who worked with MacDonald at both the Attorney General’s Office and the Judicial Branch.

“I believe this is in the best interest of the New Hampshire Judicial Branch. I accept responsibility and accountability for my conduct,” MacDonald wrote in his resignation letter.

The problems began after Martin was removed as director of the Administrative Office of the Courts in early 2025 following complaints about her management.

According to JCC records, Martin failed to complete some of the office’s basic administrative responsibilities.

“Ms. Martin failed to timely perform necessary administrative obligations, for example she repeatedly failed to authorize payment of significant bills or timely review contract proposals. Bills that went unpaid include utility bills, rent payments for certain court sites, and legal research subscriptions like LexisNexis. Her failure to perform resulted in court facilities receiving utility shut off notices, eviction threats, and suspension of legal research services,” the JCC report states.

Donovan and Countway met with Martin and offered her an opportunity to move to the Office of Bar Admissions. Martin initially rejected the position and was terminated.

The records say MacDonald responded by angrily confronting the justices.

“You entered Justice Donovan’s chambers, reportedly slamming the office door. It is also reported that you yelled at Justice Donovan, using profane language in anger,” the JCC stated in its communications to MacDonald. “This was not the first time in your tenure that you yelled and used profanity in anger toward a judicial officer.”

Martin was subsequently treated as laid off for approximately two days before accepting the Office of Bar Admissions position. That classification allowed her to collect nearly $50,000 in accrued vacation and sick leave.

The position was placed at a higher pay grade, allowed Martin to work remotely, and was changed so she reported directly to MacDonald, according to records subsequently reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office and the JCC.

The Attorney General’s Office found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing but determined that the process did not follow human resources best practices.

After NHPR first reported on the arrangement, MacDonald, Donovan, Countway, and Gould issued an October 2025 statement saying Martin’s position had been eliminated during an administrative reorganization and that the personnel decisions had been made collectively.

The JCC subsequently concluded that the statement was false and misleading, creating the impression that the moves were part of a routine cost-saving reorganization.

Records released with the JCC findings also show the four justices fought to keep the investigation confidential.

Attorney Richard Lehmann, representing MacDonald, Donovan, Countway and Gould, argued in a March motion that public disclosure would unfairly damage the justices.

“The Justices each have a reputational due process interest at stake in this matter, and it is an interest that will be irreparably harmed if the JCC makes a public statement acknowledging the existence of its inquiry,” Lehmann wrote.

The justices also sought to remove Philip Waystack Jr. from the matter, arguing he should not act as both the JCC’s investigator and its attorney. The committee rejected that request in April and authorized a public statement, though the investigation remained undisclosed until MacDonald’s resignation.

Warmington wants the court issue to become a campaign issue as well.

Warmington accused Ayotte of abandoning what she described as New Hampshire’s tradition of maintaining ideological balance on the court.

“Kelly Ayotte has broken with a longstanding tradition of maintaining a bipartisan court by advocating for and nominating highly partisan justices, including two who previously served as legal counsel to the Republican Party. We now have a circumstance where partisan justices joined together to support conduct that brought disgrace upon not only MacDonald but the entire court.”

Ayotte has appointed two members of the current court: Gould and Daniel Will. Gould, a longtime attorney for Republican candidates and organizations, was confirmed in September 2025 and participated in the court’s statement about Martin the following month. Will joined the court in February 2026 and was not involved in the Martin personnel matter.

Donovan and Countway were appointed by former Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, as was MacDonald.

The fifth justice during the MacDonald/Martin scandal, Hantz Marconi, played a key role in events that lined up curiously with her own scandal. It should also be noted that Hantz Marconi did not sign off on the misleading press statement.

Hantz Marconi and her husband, former Ports Director Geno Marconi, allegedly spread the rumor that MacDonald and Martin were involved romantically before Martin was hired as the AOC director in 2021, MacDonald told the JCC in his statement. MacDonald said this claim is false, and he immediately disclosed it to the Supreme Court’s general counsel.

“I also discussed it with each of the justices individually, telling them it was false,” MacDonald said.

Geno Marconi was suspended from his state job in early 2024, and Hantz Marconi was suspended from her position in June 2024 as she was investigating the complaints about Martin. At the time, Hantz Marconi was accused of asking Gov. Chris Sununu to intervene in the criminal investigation of her husband, an allegation Sununu, Hantz Marconi, and witness Rudolf Ogden denied. Ogden was Sununu’s counsel at the time and is now a Superior Court judge.

The case against Hantz Marconi is entwined in the relationship between Sununu, MacDonald, and Attorney General John Formella.

Sununu appointed MacDonald as attorney general and then elevated him to the Supreme Court. NHJournal is told MacDonald suggested Formella take the role leading the Department of Justice. Formella is Sununu’s longtime friend, personal attorney, and later counsel when Sununu was first elected governor.

Formella personally began the investigation into Hantz Marconi’s conversation with Sununu, ignoring DOJ policy, according to court records. Court records show Formella personally interviewed MacDonald as a witness in the first days of building his case.

Hantz Marconi claimed after she was charged that MacDonald told her speaking to Sununu would not cross any lines.

The felony criminal charges against Hantz Marconi and Geno Marconi were reduced to misdemeanor plea agreements last year.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.