Update: Gov. John Kitzhaber releases a statement saying he 'has no intention of resigning'

Gov. John Kitzhaber's private attorney, Jim McDermott, on Wednesday sought to tamp down a flurry of speculation that the governor was planning to resign.

"I have every reason to believe the governor will stay in office," McDermott said in a telephone interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive. "As a citizen and his lawyer, I certainly hope and expect he will be staying in office.

Speculation about the governor's future was fueled Wednesday morning after Secretary of State Kate Brown cut short a trip to Washington, D.C. to return to Oregon.

The governor's office has not responded to requests for comment about whether he was getting ready to leave office amid controversy over fiancee Cylvia Hayes' consulting contracts and how he and his aides handled them.

Brown's spokesman, Tony Green, pointedly did not say why she was returning early to Oregon from a meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State. Brown is president of the association and the conference is scheduled to run through Friday.

Former Gov. Barbara Roberts said she had a brief conversation Wednesday with Brown, who told her she would have to call later. "I assumed that she would not be returning home and leaving the secretaries of state conference unless it was important to be in Oregon," Roberts said.

Politicians on both sides reported hearing rumors of a pending resignation, which dominated conversations inside the Capitol.

Kitzhaber has stayed out of public sight but his office cancelled his plans to celebrate the state's birthday on Saturday at a tree-planting in Tigard.

--Jeff Mapes, Laura Gunderson and Jeff Manning