Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber quits amid criminal probe

Hannah Hoffman | The (Salem, Ore.) Statesman Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Oregon's governor officially resigns amid scandal Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber officially announced his resignation amid allegations of criminal wrongdoing. The decision comes after much back and forth from his office.

SALEM, Ore. — Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned office Friday amid allegations of criminal wrongdoing, almost exactly one month after being sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term. Secretary of State Kate Brown will replace him.

His resignation is effective Wednesday, he said Friday in a letter.

"It is not in my nature to walk away from a job I have undertaken," his resignation letter said. "It is to stand and fight for the cause. For that reason I apologize to all those people who gave of their faith, time, energy and resources to elect me to a fourth term last year and who have supported me over the past three decades. I promise you that I will continue to pursue our shared goals and our common cause in another venue."

Listen to Kitzhaber reading his resignation letter.

Oregon governor announces resignation amid ethics scandal Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announced his resignation on Friday amid conflict-of-interest allegations involving his fiancée that have triggered a corruption probe. Rough Cut (no reporter narration). Video provided by Reuters

Kitzhaber is under criminal investigation by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum's office for the role his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, has held in his office and whether she used that role to obtain private consulting work.

The attorney general's investigation will continue, said Rosenblum in a statement after Kitzhaber resigned.

He appears to be the first Oregon governor to face an AG investigation. He is also under review by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, although it is on hold until Rosenblum completes her work.

Also on Friday, the U.S. Attorney's office for Oregon launched its own investigation and filed a subpoena with the Department of Administrative Services requesting financial documents relating to both Kitzhaber and Hayes.

It names 11 state agencies and 17 people whose communications are being requested.

TURBULENT WEEK

Calls for his resignation have mounted as new allegations against him and Hayes have come to light.

Democratic leaders officially asked Kitzhaber to step down on Thursday. They originally thought he planned to do it Wednesday, but he apparently changed his mind that afternoon.

"It has become clear that the ongoing investigations surrounding the governor and Cylvia Hayes have resulted in a loss of the people's trust and undermined his ability to effectively lead as our state's chief executive," Speaker of the House Tina Kotek told reporters on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, the current situation has become untenable, and I cannot imagine any scenario by which things improve, " Treasurer Ted Wheeler said in a written statement.

Senate President Peter Courtney said the governor's situation had become a distraction from the work the Oregon Legislature and the rest of state government need to be doing.

A LITANY OF REVELATIONS

Kitzhaber was elected to his fourth term on Nov. 4, 2014, with 49.8% of the vote. His Republican opponent, former state Rep. Dennis Richardson, was about 5 points behind.

Even then, questions about Hayes' behavior were mounting. She worked as an unpaid adviser in Kitzhaber's office, but she also worked as a private consultant in the clean energy sector.

Media reports uncovered a previous illegal green card marriage Hayes entered into in the late 1990s. Later, it came to light she once bought property with a former boyfriend with the intent to illegally grow marijuana.

The governor did not know about either situation until the media dug into Hayes' past.

Later, it came to light that people who worked for Kitzhaber's campaign had given Hayes private consulting contracts and later been secured jobs in the governor's staff.

Hayes also received a $118,000 contract from an energy company and did not report the money on her taxes.

Kitzhaber said he didn't know anything about his fiancee's taxes during a January press conference, and he said he didn't know whether she is legally a member of his household, even though he has previously said she is on other government forms.

This week, the attorney general ordered Hayes to release emails she had sent in her capacity as Kitzhaber's adviser, and Willamette Week reported Kitzhaber had apparently tried to delete thousands of his own e-mails from the state server.

'BIZARRE' SITUATION

The mounting questions and scrutiny have consumed the governor, and his behavior earlier in the week appeared indecisive and erratic.

The governor met with both Courtney and Kotek on Tuesday, and Courtney told reporters he believed the governor was planning to resign. Courtney had written a statement to be read upon the governor's stepping down.

It appeared Kitzhaber changed his mind some time between asking Brown to return from a conference in Washington, D.C., and her meeting with him Wednesday afternoon.

"He asked me why I came back early from Washington, D.C., which I found strange. I asked him what he wanted to talk about. The Governor told me he was not resigning, after which, he began a discussion about transition," Brown said in a written statement Thursday. "This is clearly a bizarre and unprecedented situation."

After Kitzhaber talked with Brown about a transition plan on Wednesday evening, he told Courtney and Kotek about it Thursday morning. Courtney said he did not know any specifics.

Kitzhaber had been adamant on Wednesday afternoon that he did not intend to leave office. On Thursday, he remained in seclusion and some of his senior staff members stayed home.