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A plane flies over software maker Oracle Corp.'s headquarters in Redwood City, Calif.

(Paul Sakuma)

Five former campaign staffers and advisers to former Gov. John Kitzhaber are calling frivolous

filed by Oracle, the Cover Oregon technology vendor. And they've

to get it tossed out of court.

The California software giant filed a $33 million lawsuit against the five last month, citing press reports that the Kitzhaber campaign played a major role in managing the state's decision to shelve the $300 million Cover Oregon project and use the federal website instead.

The new flurry of litigation in Multnomah County Circuit Court comes as Oregon and Oracle continue to battle each other in federal court in Portland as well as Marion County Circuit Court over who is to blame for the exchange website never getting off the ground.

But while Oracle claims the Kitzhaber campaign tanked technology that was working fine, the former staffers and advisers say that their advice is protected by the First Amendment. They say Oracle hasn't shown the five did anything wrong.

"Oracle has insinuated much but alleged little regarding defendant's specific acts," according to the motion.

It was filed on behalf of Patricia McCaig, senior adviser to the former governor's 2014 reelection campaign; Tim Raphael, former communications director; Scott Nelson, former business policy director; and campaign consultants Kevin Looper and Mark Wiener.

Oracle based

in part on emails leaked to

last month showing that Kitzhaber in February 2014 approved a secretive, joint state-campaign committee headed by McCaig to engage in "specific, intensive management of the Cover Oregon issues."

The emails echoed earlier reporting by The Oregonian/OregonLive that McCaig and Cover Oregon secretly worked to "coordinate" public proceedings around the decision in April, but the actual decisions were made secretly weeks earlier and announced to staff before the public vote occurred.

The new court filing filed on behalf of the five staffers and advisers cites Oregon's anti-SLAPP law, a reference to litigation intended only to silence critics, or a "strategic lawsuit against public participation." It says the Oracle suit targets constitutionally protected communications and is based on "hearsay newspaper reports."

Oracle in a statement Wednesday called it ironic that the advisers' motion cites a law designed to protect the public process.

The firm has adopted a more aggressive public relations campaign since Kitzhaber's troubles began last fall. The Oracle suit in February was filed just as many observers felt the company was using lobbyists, litigation and a House oversight investigation launched by a friendly Congressman to pressure Oregon to settle its separate racketeering lawsuit against the company.

-- Nick Budnick and Jeff Manning

nbudnick@oregonian.com jmanning@oregonian.com

503-294-5083 503-294-7606

@nickbudnick @JeffmanningOre