XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, or.politics, sac.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns   
   From: stupid@oregon.com   
      
   On 31 Aug 2021, "Text-Drivers R Killers"  posted   
   some news:sglqgf$ddm$61@news.dns-netz.com:   
      
   > Yak wrote   
   >   
   >>   
   >> Can't trust a Democrat doper.  They can't think.   
      
   Gov. Tina Kotek tells WW she has requested dual Oregon Government Ethics   
   Commission and Oregon Department of Justice investigations of the   
   circumstances surrounding an audit released today of the Oregon Liquor and   
   Cannabis Commission.   
      
   Kotek’s move comes after revelations that Secretary of State Shemia Fagan,   
   who oversees the Audits Division, signed a consulting contract with an   
   affiliate of the embattled La Mota cannabis dispensary chain even as   
   Fagan’s auditors were examining the OLCC’s regulation of the cannabis   
   industry.   
      
   Audit work papers show that Fagan encouraged auditors to incorporate the   
   concerns of Rosa Cazares, the CEO of La Mota. Cazares and her partner,   
   Aaron Mitchell, are large Fagan campaign contributors.   
      
   “It’s critical that Oregonians trust their government. That is why I am   
   urging the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to immediately investigate   
   this situation,” Kotek said in a statement. “Additionally, I am requesting   
   that the Oregon Department of Justice examine the secretary of state’s   
   recently released audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission and   
   its cannabis program.”   
      
   At 7:30 pm Friday, Fagan broke her 24-hour silence on the matter in a   
   statement to WW. She defended the contract work and said she’d broken no   
   ethics laws. She added that she supports the investigations urged by Kotek   
   because “the facts will restore trust in our Audits Division and in me as   
   your secretary of state.” (Fagan’s full statement can be found below.) She   
   still did not, however, provide a copy of the contract itself or disclose   
   what she’s being paid.   
      
   Earlier today, WW reported that the Oregon Government Ethics Commission   
   had received at least two ethics complaints about Fagan’s contract with   
   the La Mota company. This afternoon, the executive director of the   
   commission confirmed to WW that it had begun a preliminary review of those   
   complaints.   
      
   Records show that Fagan recused herself from the OLCC audit one week after   
   the audit had already been written in its final form.   
      
   La Mota’s owners, Aaron Mitchell and Rosa Cazares, gave significant   
   political contributions to both Kotek and Fagan, among other top   
   Democrats. As they did so, they and the companies they control racked up   
   more than $7 million in state and federal tax liens and fought more than   
   two dozen lawsuits filed against them in Oregon circuit courts.   
      
   Since March 29, when WW first published its investigation into La Mota, it   
   has asked Kotek if she will return the more than $68,000 in political   
   contributions made to her campaign by Cazares, Mitchell, La Mota and the   
   political action committee Cazares controls. It was not until Friday   
   evening—after Kotek asked for the investigations—that she said she would   
   donate $75,000 to the Oregon Food Bank.   
      
   “The contributions from La Mota were made legally during the course of the   
   campaign for governor,” Kotek campaign manager Meghan Cavanaugh said, “but   
   in the interest of transparency and reducing any distraction from the work   
   of the people, the governor is making a contribution in the amount of   
   $75,000 to Oregon Food Bank for food acquisition.”   
      
   Below is Fagan’s full statement to WW.   
      
   “In my private employment, as a legislator and as Secretary of State, I   
   have held myself to the highest standard and treated the ethics guidelines   
   as a floor, not a ceiling. To that end, I voluntarily shared today that I   
   maintain private employment as an adjunct professor at Willamette   
   University College of Law, and hold limited private contracts with HKM   
   Employment Attorneys and Veriede Holding, LLC. The time needed is minimal   
   and I prioritize my public service.   
      
   Today, people had specific questions about the contract I have with   
   Veriede Holding, LLC, a cannabis company and affiliate of La Mota. I   
   immediately shared all the information that relates to my work as a public   
   official, I also understand why I’ve been asked to share more. I’m happy   
      
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