News The continuing saga of the Oregon Department of Justice's aborted investigation into whether state Department of Energy staffers wrongfully steered a contract to a company run by Gov. John Kitzhaber's companion, Cylvia Hayes, has taken another turn.Sean Riddell, the former top DOJ criminal lawyer who led the investigation, was demoted in June. The official reasons given by Attorney General John Kroger ...   More

News Lawyers for Mark Long, the former interim director of the Oregon Department of Energy, have asked Gov. John Kitzhaber to direct Attorney General John Kroger to appoint a special prosecutor who would investigate the deletion of emails by former Department of Justice criminal chief Sean Riddell."We write to urge you to direct Attorney General John Kroger, pursuant to ORS 180.070, to conduct immediately ...   More

News Lawyers for the former director of the Oregon Department of Energy, Mark Long, filed a bar complaint (PDF) on May 13 against Sean Riddell, chief counsel for the Oregon Department of Justice's criminal division. The complaint levels serious accusations against Riddell, a top lieutenant to Attorney General John Kroger. "In the course of conducting a criminal investigation, Mr. Riddell repeatedly and ...   More

News The battle between former Oregon Department of Energy interim Director Mark Long and Attorney General John Kroger's Oregon Department of Justice continues to escalate.Bill Gary, Long's attorney, filed a lawsuit last week in Marion County Court accusing Kroger of withholding records related to the racketeering theory that Justice Department criminal investigators pursued in last year's probe into the ...   More

News As the probe continues into whether the Oregon Department of Energy unlawfully steered business to a company co-owned by Gov. John Kitzhaber's longtime companion, two well-connected defense lawyers have gone on the offensive against the chief investigator in the case.WW has obtained a 30-page letter (PDF) in which Dave Frohnmayer and Bill Gary outline a series of accusations against Sean Riddell (in ...   More

News Last week, Attorney General John Kroger's office issued a statement marking the end of his investigation into contracting practices at the Oregon Department of Energy. "We are currently of the opinion that we could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any state employee committed Official Misconduct in the First or Second degree while awarding the Energy Assurance Grant," wrote Kroger's ...   More

News The rhetoric around a recently-completed Oregon Department of Justice investigation into contracting practices at the state Department of Energy is getting even more heated. Yesterday, Bill Gary and Dave Frohnmayer, lawyers for former Energy Department director Mark Long penned a scathing letter [PDF] to Senior Assistant Attorney General Donna Sandoval-Bennett, expressing outrage about DOJ's handling ...   More