BANGOR – The political fallout over a potentially damaging report about a developer hoping to open a racetrack casino here continued Friday as state officials made hundreds more documents available.

The new documents – roughly 1,500 pages of financial statements, hearing transcripts and court documents – provided details to the findings in a 32-page report on Las Vegas developer Shawn Scott by Maine Harness Racing Commission Executive Director Henry Jackson.

Critics of Scott’s plan to introduce slot machines at Bass Park pointed to the largely critical report – prepared in part by the state Attorney General’s Office – as further reason to slow down the licensing process, set to begin at the racing commission’s Dec. 15 meeting.

“We just wish it [had been] available to the public before the election,” said Lee Umphrey, spokesman for Gov. John Baldacci, suggesting the report could have changed the results of the Nov. 4 referendum in which 53 percent of Maine voters favored the plan.

Although he signed the bill into law Thursday, the governor has asked all parties involved in this month’s licensing hearings to wait until a new gambling commission he is proposing can be established.

The report and its reams of supporting documents contains a long list of court cases, liens, and one bankruptcy involving Scott and his companies during the past decade. The report also notes that an associate of Scott’s who at one time was involved with the Bangor project, has a history of arrests and convictions, ranging from theft, assault and contempt of court.

Christen Graham, spokeswoman for Capital Seven, downplayed Friday the report’s influence on the coming licensing hearings. The confidence comes despite concerns from at least one commission member that the political fallout from the report’s early release might influence the panel’s decision.

“This is all the same material the commission would have to review in the first place,” Graham said. “And there’s nothing there to prevent us from getting the operating license.”

That license would allow Capital Seven to operate the racetrack and slot machines.

The report’s release seemed to have little impact in Bangor, where construction crews Friday continued to refurbish the Bangor Raceway grandstand in preparation for the arrival of the slots.

Capital Seven, despite not yet having secured its license, has scheduled an official groundbreaking at 11 a.m. Monday followed by a job fair across the street at the Holiday Inn on Main Street.

Among many Bangor officials, Jackson’s report is old news.

Because the city owns the horse track, city councilors were able to review a draft report as early as mid-September, weeks before the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s Thursday ruling that released the report to the general public.

City councilors received their copies about a month and a half before their 5-3 vote on Oct. 30 to enter into a development deal with Capital Seven. The three new councilors received copies shortly after they were elected on Nov. 4.

Past and present councilors polled Friday indicated that the report influenced them to varying degrees.

At the time of the vote, councilors were faced with the possibility that the $30 million project might go across the Penobscot River to Brewer, where Capital Seven had bought an option on a backup site on outer Wilson Street.

Councilor Gerry Palmer acknowledged Friday that the report had a bearing on his vote against entering into the deal.

“I was concerned,” he said. “You want the best partner you can get.”

John Rohman, a former mayor serving on the council at the time, said in a Friday telephone interview that while he saw “bits and pieces” of Jackson’s report, he “didn’t dissect it” before approving the deal with Capital Seven.

And despite the recent furor over the report’s contents, Rohman said he stood by his support for the partnership.

Rohman added that the questions raised in the report would be best addressed at the racing commission hearing, where Capital Seven could receive a fair hearing.

“I do think we really need to take a close look at who Capital Seven is, but at the same time they need to be able to defend themselves,” said Rohman, noting his primary concern at the time of the vote was to ensure that Bangor remained the site for the project and the city retained some control.

“I think we were rushed at the end,” Rohman conceded, noting the pressure coming from the Brewer alternative. “Under the circumstances, it’s a decision I’m comfortable with.”

Others on the council cited Jackson’s study as a key factor in their decision.

“That report had a major bearing on my vote,” said Councilor Anne Allen, who cast one of the three votes opposing the pact.

The other key factor for Allen was the dozen or so residents who asked the council to delay a decision. Some wanted the council to wait because of misgivings about Capital Seven and others because the city received a competing offer from Iowa-based Kehl Management, which said it would invest $10 million more than Capital Seven said it would.

“I think that people are starting to talk about it and I think that’s healthy because it’s a new issue,” she said. “They’ve got to have some concerns, and the decisions we make do impact the community and that’s something we have to bear in mind.”