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The Oregon Department of Justice last week notified the U.S. Department of Justice that it is abandoning any role in the long-running investigation of former Gov. John Kitzhaber and first lady Cylvia Hayes.
In a Feb. 17 letter to U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams, Michael Slauson, Oregon DOJ's chief criminal justice counsel, wrote that his agency "would not be pursuing any further inquiry into misconduct by former-Governor John Kitzhaber and first lady Cylvia Hayes."
Slauson notes in his letter that his agency agreed to put its investigation on hold at the request of federal authorities in 2015 but that federal probe has taken longer than expected. Oregon now faces the expiration of a two-year statute of limitations.
Kitzhaber, a Democrat, resigned on Feb. 18, 2015 in the midst of an investigation into allegations of influence peddling involving Hayes, who in addition to being Kitzhaber's fiancee, served as an advisor to the governor on energy and economic development. Records showed that she had obtained more than $225,000 in consulting contracts from organizations seeking to influence state policy while she was serving as an advisor to Kitzhaber.
Part of the agreement that Oregon DOJ and U.S. DOJ made when the latter took over the investigation was that the agencies would share information. That means that results of the investigation, including all documents agents have gathered in the past two years and results of all their interviews, etc., will become a public record when the investigation is complete.
Kristina Edmunson, a spokeswoman for Oregon DOJ, says that day is not yet here.
"Unfortunately, we are not able to release any records or files while this is still an open federal investigation," Edmunson said in an email.