Updated 7 p.m.

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber's decision to place his fiancee Cylvia Hayes in a powerful state policy role while she continued to do paid advocacy work set off a cascade of ethics violations, according to a new report from the state's ethics watchdog.

In a report released Wednesday, staffers for the Oregon Government Ethics commission listed 11 instances in which Kitzhaber likely violated state laws that bar public officials from accepting gifts, using their positions for personal gain and failing to publicly disclose and avoid conflicts of interest.

Kitzhaber actively helped Hayes gain clout and lucrative work as a consultant by speaking at her events, granting her access to top-level government gatherings and insisting she be allowed to influence state policies, they found.

Last month, the commission concluded that Hayes broke the same state ethics laws on 22 occasions. Private groups paid the former first lady more than $200,000 to promote green energy and economic policies. They have yet to decide how to penalize her but could fine her as much as $110,000.

The commission is scheduled to meet Friday to consider the ethics staff's findings about the former governor's actions. If the commission agrees with the investigators' findings, it could fine him up to $55,000.

Staffers recommended last fall, before releasing a comprehensive investigation, that the commission approve a settlement agreement with Kitzhaber, under which the former governor would admit he failed to disclose potential conflicts of interest, as required, and pay $1,000. But commissioners rejected the plan, because a majority of the panel felt the proposed penalty was too low for someone who held the state's top elected job.

According to the new report, Kitzhaber used his position as governor to benefit Hayes' green energy consulting firm, 3E Strategies, by giving her a policy role in his administration and allowing his state staff to complete research and other work tasks for her. He also stood to benefit financially from those actions, since he shared a household with Hayes, investigators said.

Oregon ethics report reveals new details of how Cylvia Hayes used her position to profit

Kitzhaber also used his office for personal gain by accepting frequent flyer miles for official state travel and "by permitting state employees to care for Ms. Hayes' pets," according to the report.

In a letter to the commission, Kitzhaber's lawyer Janet Hoffman maintained the former governor didn't make any decisions with an eye to helping Hayes make money and knew little about the details of her consulting work. Kitzhaber "unequivocally rejects the suggestion that he used his public office to obtain a financial benefit for himself or Ms. Hayes," Hoffman wrote.

Kitzhaber never solicited foundations or nonprofits to pay Hayes for her work shaping policy, "and he did not involve Ms. Hayes in his administration to promote her professional work with non-profit organizations," Hoffman wrote. "Never did he believe that Ms. Hayes would claim – as a professional achievement – her efforts performed on behalf of the administration."

She also insisted Kitzhaber knew little about what exactly clients were paying Hayes to deliver, in part because the pair were frequently incommunicado and sometimes went weeks without seeing each other.

The couple was "not daily in one another's company, as might be assumed given their engagement," Hoffman wrote. "Dr. Kitzhaber and Ms. Hayes did not daily share news with one another over morning coffee or at the dinner table."

Ethics staffers documented in a report released last month that in many cases, outside groups were actually paying Hayes directly in some cases for speeches and other activities she undertook as first lady or for work she directed governor's office staffers to undertake for her.

Hoffman's version of events appears to contradict Kitzhaber's own words directing his staff to ensure Hayes had a role in shaping state policies important to the groups paying her and that state policies would match those advocated by Hayes and her clients, including one who termed her paid work a "fellowship."

"Cylvia needs to be advocating the same clean economy policy in her role as spokesperson/advocate for the Governor's Office and her role as a Clean Economy fellow. There cannot be any daylight between them," Kitzhaber wrote in August 2011. "This is another reason why she needs a role in developing the (state) policy itself."

Ethics staff repeatedly emphasized in the latest report that public officials must actively ensure they comply with ethics laws.

"Former Governor Kitzhaber was personally responsible to ensure that he did not engage in any policy decisions, discussions, speeches, meetings, directives to staff, or official actions that would further the financial interest of 3EStrategies," ethics staff wrote, referring to Hayes' consulting firm.

The staffers concluded there was a "preponderance of the evidence" that Kitzhaber violated the law against public officials using their positions for personal gain by providing Hayes "the opportunity to form and shape the policies of his administration in the policy areas, namely clean economy, ocean health, and (an alternative measure of the state's economy), for which she was paid to advocate by outside sources."

State law requires public officials to disclose each year any source of money that produces 10 percent or more of their household income, and Kitzhaber listed Hayes' consulting business under that provision from 2011 through 2013. But the ethics commission pointed out Kitzhaber failed to list Hayes' 2011 income from an organization called Rural Development Initiatives. Hayes brought in $25,000 over five months from that job.

State law requires the governor or any other public official to publicly announce when he or she faces a potential conflict of interest and abstain from "discussion or debate" on the issue if there's an actual conflict of interest. Investigator said there's evidence Kitzhaber failed to properly handle conflicts of interest in seven situations that involved Hayes' privately paid work, including situations where he used his position as governor to help her secure the jobs and then complete the work.

For example, in May 2011 Kitzhaber attended an event to raise money for Hayes' work at Rural Development Initiatives. In 2012, Kitzhaber gave Hayes exclusive access to a closed-door meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia of that province's premier and West Coast governors to discuss a unified approach to climate change. Hayes was the only first partner present, and her travel was covered by her fellowship.

And ethics staffers also cited Kitzhaber's instructions to his staff to give Hayes a role in shaping the governor's policy positions on clean economy issues that she also advocated for while working for the outside groups.

-- Hillary Borrud; Twitter: @hborrud; 503-294-4034