Federal Investigation Into Oregon's Former Secretary Of State's $10K Cannabis Consultant Job Underway

Federal law enforcement is investigating Oregon's former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan (D) and all matters related to the controversial cannabis consultant job she took while working for the state.

What happened: At the beginning of May, Fagan resigned due to the public scandal connected to her contract with Veriede Holdings, LLC, an affiliate of the controversial cannabis business La Mota. Fagan's troubles began when it came out that she had taken a $10,000 per month consultant's job while in charge of overseeing the state audit. She later claimed she excused herself from the audit, but other sources confirmed that the audit was already finalized when she stepped back. 

What now: The grand jury will meet in late June to discuss Fagan, along with Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell – the owners of La Mota marijuana company, according to The Oregonian.

Though it is not exactly clear what prosecutors are looking for, subpoenas reveal that federal agents have required various documents related to the case from at least five state agencies. While Oregon is investigating whether Fagan broke ethics laws and if the state audit was done properly, federal authorities are apparently examining if any crimes were committed.

A spokesman for Orgeon U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight said he couldn’t confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, writes OBP. According to the outlet, however, formal orders for state officials to produce records were submitted by Assistant US Attorney Ethan Knight, who is the chief of the office’s economic crimes unit. Orders for records going back for five years were sent to the Secretary of State’s Office, the Oregon Department of Revenue, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, and the Department of Administrative Services.

When Fagan resigned as Secretary of State on May 2, she issued the following statement:

“While I am confident that the ethics investigation will show that I followed the state’s legal and ethical guidelines in trying to make ends meet for my family, it is clear that my actions have become a distraction from the important and critical work of the Secretary of State’s office,” Fagan stated. “Protecting our state’s democracy and ensuring faith in our elected leaders – these are the reasons I ran for this office. They are also the reasons I will be submitting my resignation today. I want to thank the incredible staff in the Secretary of State’s office for their hard work and Oregonians for the opportunity to serve them. It has been a true honor to serve the people of Oregon."

Was Gov. Kotek Aware Of The Controversy?

Oregon governor Tina Kotek (D) called on the Oregon Government Ethics Commission to investigate Fagan's actions when the news broke and later supported Fagan’s decision to resign. Weeks after, Kotek made headlines for allegedly knowing about Fagan’s involvement with the cannabis company during the time of the audit, which the governor partly denied saying she was unaware of details of Fagan's business relationship.

Photo: Benzinga edit with images on Wikimedia Commons and by Jakub Matyáš on Unsplash