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The Oregon State Police has released its investigation into the leak of former Gov. John Kitzhaber's emails to WW by whistleblower Michael Rodgers.
The 1,502-page file shows the state police conducted an aggressive and wide-ranging hunt to find out who leaked the emails to WW in February.
The criminal investigation into the Kitzhaber email leaks began on Feb. 18, when then-Department of Administrative Services director Michael Jordan called in the Oregon State Police after WW first published excerpts from the emails.
The documents show state investigators quickly zeroed in on Rodgers. The reports show investigators asked Rodgers if he leaked the emails to WW, and he tried to mislead them by suggesting Kitzhaber's staff might have leaked them.
That's something Rodgers has already acknowledged in an interview with WW—when he came forward in May to reveal himself as the source of the leak.
The investigation ended on June 3, one day after Gov. Kate Brown told WW she didn't think Rodgers should be charged criminally and that she'd prefer to work instead on restoring transparency and public trust in state government.
Kitzhaber resigned Feb. 18 amid an influence-peddling scandal that unfolded after WW reported in October 2014 that first lady Cylvia Hayes accepted consulting fees from interest groups seeking to change state policy. The FBI has been investigating, and federal officials issued a sweeping subpoena for records the day Kitzhaber announced his resignation.
WWeek 2015