Skip to main content
Oregon's top political figures are nearly absent from the leaked emails that rocked the Democratic National Committee this week.
The emails, revealed last week by Wikileaks, contain only passing references to U.S. Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden. U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer comes up as a possible guest speaker at a fundraising lunch, then is never mentioned again. Gov. Kate Brown doesn't get discussed at all.
But there's one Oregonian who does make an appearance in the emails: Portland conservative radio host Lars Larson.
Among the leaked DNC emails is one in which a staffer summarizes Larson's interview with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to committee officials.
The interview, held May 17, the day of Oregon's primary, touched on a range of topics, including a then-recent New York Times article about Trump's behavior around women ("not even serious violations, to be honest with you"), how the candidate expects to do in Portland (tremendously), and his feelings about birthdays. (He does not like birthdays.)
DNC staffer Matt Sarge listened closely to Larson's interview, summarizing each question and answer in bullet points, and sent an email about it to committee officials.
The leak of the emails, which led to the resignation of DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is believed by American intelligence officials to have been the result of an attempt by Russian agents to influence the U.S. election.
This particular email shows how carefully the DNC has tracked Trump's media appearances in the buildup to a race between him and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Larson says he was not surprised to learn that DNC staffers had tuned in to his interview.
"They're going to do everything they can to beat Trump, because they've got their work cut out for them," Larson tells WW. "I think this is one of the ultimate compliments."
The leaked email can be found here.
Here's the email in its entirety.
Willamette Week