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Under Attorney General John Kroger, there are few dull moments at Oregon's Department of Justice.
Recently, a lawyer for the embattled former Oregon Department of Energy director Mark Long sued Kroger for withholding public records—a somewhat ironic claim given that Kroger has made greater transparency of government records a pillar of his administration. Given all the back-and-forth between Long's legal team and DOJ, it would be naive not to suspect there were some tactical decisions involved in that lawsuit, in addition to a desire for records.
But now another interest is stepping forward and accusing Kroger and his subordinates of sitting on records. This time, the aggrieved party is on Kroger's staff—he is Marc Abrams, a senior assistant attorney general (and former two-term Portland School Board member), who is president of the union that represents state Justice Department lawyers.
As union chief, Abrams has been trying to get the department to cough up some documents relating to a personnel matter involving one of his bargaining unit's lawyers. DOJ decline to provide the requested records.
"We have reviewed the report you requested," wrote Deputy AG Mary Williams to Abrams on April 4. "Based on that review, we have determined that the report you have requested is protected by the attorney-client privilege. It is therefore exempt from disclosure."
That response didn't sit well with Abrams, who responded as follows to Williams on April 11:
DOJ spokesman Tony Green declined to comment on the exchange.
WWeek 2015