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The Oregon Government Ethics Commission has dismissed ethics complaints against Gov. Tina Kotek.
After a spirited discussion of whether the agency’s preliminary investigation was sufficient, a motion to move forward with a formal investigation resulted in a 4–4 deadlock. Under commission rules, the motion needed five affirmative votes to pass and, therefore, failed.
The panel’s action follows the receipt of numerous ethics complaints about the role first lady Aimee Kotek Wilson has played in the administration of her wife, the governor.
Prior to the vote, OGEC director Susan Myers recommended dismissing the complaints, saying in her report that based on her preliminary review, the complaints didn’t meet the standard of constituting a “substantial objective basis” for proceeding with a formal investigation.
Myers said in her review of emails released by the governor’s office and in media reports, she found no evidence that Kotek Wilson‘s role either provided her any personal financial benefit or violated anti-nepotism statutes.
A number of commissioners, including Dan Mason and Richard Burke, questioned Myers about the thoroughness of her investigation—asking specifically why she hadn’t interviewed the three former staffers whose departures from Kotek’s office triggered the complaints.
Myers acknowledged she had not interviewed any of the departed staff. She explained that nothing she saw in emails or media reports suggested to her there was a reasonable basis for such inquiries because nothing she saw represented a potential ethics violation.
OGEC chairman Shawn Lindsay, a former GOP lawmaker now in private legal practice, disagreed with Myers. ”Moving to dismiss the complaints would be premature and would treat Gov. Kotek differently from others whose cases come in front of the commission,” Lindsay said. He cited an example of another case on today’s agenda in which an investigator took the step of interviewing subjects who could shed light on a complaint.
But the vote split largely along partisan lines. (Lindsay, Mason, Burke and Jonathan Thompson, all of whom voted to move forward with an investigation, were all nominated by the GOP legislative caucuses. The four “no” votes came from Democratic nominees. The ninth commissioner, Amber Hollister, who was absent today, is also a Democratic nominee.)
The governor’s office expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
“The governor is grateful for the commission’s thorough deliberations on this matter,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Shepard wrote. “The first lady is a volunteer and public official with relevant professional experience that can provide tremendous value in furthering the governor’s priorities. The governor now looks forward to receiving formal guidance from the commission on the questions her office submitted regarding the role of a first spouse.”
The underlying issue first came to public attention March 22, when Kotek’s office announced the departure of chief of staff Andrea Cooper, special adviser Abby Tibbs, and deputy chief of staff Lindsey O’Brien. (O’Brien technically remains on leave.) The departures, coming early in the tenure of a governor who appeared to be thriving, struck many observers as highly surprising.
WW subsequently reported that the departures—and the subsequent resignations of two additional senior staff, communications director An Do and deputy general counsel Lindsey Burrows—all related to concerns about Kotek Wilson’s involvement in the governor’s office. Specifically, staffers objected to Kotek Wilson’s involvement in policy meetings and personnel matters. Kotek Wilson, who has spoken publicly about her struggles with mental illness and alcoholism, has taken a particular interest in those areas, which are also a top priority for Kotek.
Related: Co-Governor: Aimee Kotek Wilson Is Her Wife’s Closest Adviser And Highest Priority
Neither Kotek nor Kotek Wilson appeared in front of the commission today, but Derek Johnson, a Eugene lawyer who appeared on Kotek’s behalf, cautioned the commission against letting political considerations influence what was meant to be a legal inquiry into whether Kotek’s appointment of her wife to a volunteer position violated laws prohibiting the use of public office for personal gain.
“What is appropriate falls under political concerns,” Johnson said. “That’s different from a legal issue.“ The standard for moving forward with a formal investigation, he noted, is a “substantial objective basis” to believe an ethics violation may have occurred, and for that, he said, there is ”no evidence.”
Mason expressed dismay at what he called an inadequate probe. “My vote to move to investigation was based on the view that the preliminary investigation was inadequate due to the three people who resigned were not interviewed,” he told WW via text. “Without those resignations, an ethics complaint most likely would not have been filed.”