Oregon's Secretary Of State Apologizes For 'Exercising Poor Judgment,' Ends Controversial Cannabis Job

Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan announced Monday the termination of her contract with Veriede Holdings, LLC., an affiliate of the troubled marijuana company La Mota. Fagan apologized to the people of Oregon in a press conference.

On Friday, Fagan stated she is pleased that the Governor asked the DOJ and Government Ethics Commission to research the facts around the case, “because the facts will restore trust in our audits division and in me as your Secretary of State.”

This time, even though she asserted that she followed the Ethics Commission’s guidelines for private employment of public officials and only took this job because her annual salary of $77,000 isn’t enough to support her family, she also apologized for "exercising poor judgment.” 

“I owe the people of Oregon an apology. I exercised poor judgment by contracting with a company that is owned by my significant political donors and is regulated by an agency that was under audit by my Audits Division. I am sorry for harming the trust that I’ve worked so hard to build with you over the last few years, and I will spend the next two years working hard to rebuild it," Fagan stated. 

“I’m holding a press conference today to answer questions and to own that there is a difference between following all the rules and doing nothing wrong. I broke your trust. That was wrong. I am truly sorry.

“My mission as Secretary of State continues to be to build trust. The first step to building trust is admitting that I broke it. I’ll spend the next two years rebuilding your trust in me and that starts today with releasing the contract that will be reviewed by the Government Ethics Commission.”

Background

On Friday, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) released an audit on the regulation of the marijuana industry calling for the modernization of cannabis laws to help grow the economy and ensure social equity.

Fagan took the consultant's job with a salary of $10,000 a month while in charge of overseeing the state audit.

Several hours after the press conference announcing the audit, Republican lawmakers called for Fagan’s resignation. 

“This appears to be an ethics violation and if it isn’t then Oregon’s ethics laws are broken,” Senate Republican leader Tim Knopp and House Republican leader Vikki Breese-Iverson said in a joint statement

La Mota's owners, Rosa Cazares and her partner Aaron Mitchell as well as the businesses they control gave $200,000 to Democratic politicians, including $45,000 to Fagan.

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Wikimedia Commons and Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash