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Within the past two weeks, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation have placed phone calls to staff within the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, according to multiple people with knowledge of the communications.
The calls come as federal authorities have opened a criminal inquiry related to former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and her relationship with Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell, the co-founders of the embattled cannabis dispensary chain La Mota. In February, Fagan went to work for the couple, who also were top donors to her campaign. One week after WW broke the news of her contract, Fagan resigned.
Within the past week, the U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to several state agencies, seeking records related to Fagan and La Mota ahead of the empaneling of a federal grand jury later this month. Agencies subpoenaed include the Oregon Government Ethics Commission and the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The Oregonian first reported Monday evening that the feds were investigating, and said the Secretary of State’s Office and the Oregon Department of Revenue had also been subpoenaed.
The Oregon Department of Justice, which represents state agencies in legal matters, has so far declined to provide copies of the subpoenas or confirm the existence of an investigation. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for Oregon also declined to confirm or deny the investigation was occurring.
That federal investigators are contacting state employees is the latest development in the saga of a disgraced politician and the outsized influence of Cazares and Mitchell, who contributed heavily to leading Democratic candidates for the past three years. The couple, who moved to Oregon from Florida around 2009, contributed more than $200,000 to top Democrats, including Fagan, Gov. Tina Kotek, Senate President Rob Wagner of Portland, and U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle. Much of that money, as WW has previously reported, was delivered in stacks of cash.
Two state investigations into Fagan and her relationship with Cazares and Mitchell began earlier. The Ethics Commission is investigating Fagan’s consulting contract with the couple, and the Oregon Department of Justice has hired a California firm to investigate a state audit of the OLCC that Fagan oversaw, directing auditors to interview Cazares, then recusing herself from the audit after it was substantially complete.
Fagan’s attorney declined to comment.