Feds Still Investigating Former Gov. John Kitzhaber
Friday, September 11, 2015
The Oregon Ethics Commission and Attorney General's Office have both suspended their investigations of Kitzhaber while Federal authorities continue to look over the case.
Tom Hagemann, a former prosecutor turned white-collar criminal defense attorney and partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell in Houston, Texas, told GoLocal that investigations like these usually take not months, but years.
“It’s really hard to set any fast timeline in a meaningful federal investigation except to say it will be completed before the statute of limitations runs out, which is usually five years,” Hagemann said. “The most serious investigations usually take between six months and two years…but I have seen many that have taken longer than that.”
Feds Still Searching
The federal investigation into Kitzhaber’s alleged misdeeds began in force on February 14, when the Oregon Department of Administrative Services was served a comprehensive subpoena into the outgoing governor and his fiancée.
All in all, 11 state departments, seven non-profit agencies that awarded Hayes contracts and 17 additional state staff were listed in the subpoena.
Beth Anne Steele, a spokeswoman for the FBI Portland Division, said the agency would not comment on the details of an ongoing investigation.
Other Investigations Still on Hold
Almost immediately after Kitzhaber’s resignation in February, the Oregon Department of Administrative Services received a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s office.
An investigation by the Oregon Ethics Commission, which investigates charges of corruption and monitors conflicts of interest among public officials, was put on hold so that state and federal investigators could more easily investigate Kitzhaber’s dealings.
The Ethics Commission’s civil investigation remains suspended while criminal investigations by both state and federal investigators continue.
State and Federal investigators were initially looking at allegations of corruption in the Kitzhaber administration simultaneously. However, on February 27, Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced she would suspend her investigation at the request of federal authorities.
On Thursday, Kristina Edmunson, a spokeswoman for Rosenblum’s office told GoLocal that the State Attorney’s investigation is still on hold while the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office complete their investigations.
Hagemann, a former prosecutor, said that there it is not unusual for the federal government to ask state authorities to suspend their investigations while they conduct investigations of their own.
What’s Taking So Long?
Joel Bertocchi, who served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney investigating and prosecuting federal criminal cases in Chicago, said investigations of this nature typically take a long time to be resolved.
“Investigations like these are very complicated, they have a lot of different moving parts,” he said. “Almost anything can slow them down.”
Bertocchi said the replacement of the original U.S. Attorney on the case, Amanda Marshall, who resigned after allegations surrounding her and a subordinate, with a new prosecutor, Billy Williams, could impact the timeline.
“He’s going to have to go over everything and learn as much about it as he can before he has to sign off on anything,” Bertocchi said. “Even if he is familiar with the case there are things he will want to review before he signs off on any charges.”
He also said that because the subpoena and investigation involve so many different divisions of government and different people, it could become a lengthier process.
“Sometimes you need one witness to cooperate before you can go to talk to another witness,” Bertocchi said. “Sometimes witnesses won’t cooperate, and you need to get some leverage on them if they’re important enough.”
Hagemann agreed, saying prosecutors are going to leave “no stone unturned” when conducting an investigation. That means that they will be exhaustive in reviewing documents and interviewing potential witnesses, to be sure they have all of the evidence needed to gain an indictment from a grand jury and, eventually, a conviction in criminal court.
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