SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is in hot water, with Republican legislators calling for her resignation and the Democratic guv lookingfor examinations duetothefactthat Fagan took a consulting task with a cannabis company.
Fagan launched a declaration late Friday stating she invited the guv’s questions.
“I am relieved that the Governor has asked DOJ and the Government Ethics Commission to engage in reality finding duetothefactthat the realities will bringback trust in our audits department and in me as your Secretary of State,” Fagan stated.
The matter came to a head Friday after Fagan’s workplace launched an audit of the state’s cannabis regulators, the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. The audit called for the OLCC to “reform” some guidelines for cannabis companies, stating they are “burdens” when integrated with federal limitations on interstate commerce, banking and tax.
Fagan, a Democrat, recused herself from the audit since she is a paid expert of an affiliate of cannabis retail chain La Mota, Fagan’s representative Ben Morris stated at a virtual news conference about the audit’s release.
La Mota’s co-owner hasactually hosted fundraisingevents for top Democratic Oregon politicalleaders, consistingof Fagan, while the co-owner, her partner and their service presumably owe $1.7 million in unsettled costs and more in state and federal taxes, according to Willamette Week, a Portland paper.
Fagan didn’t appear at the news conference, which consistedof her spokesperson, deputy and the audits director. News of the consultancy was veryfirst reported Thursday by Willamette Week.
Fagan hasn’t divulged how much the consultancy pays.
Morris rejected Fagan’s outdoors work represented a dispute of interest and stated Oregon Government Ethics Commission standards particularly permit public authorities to keep personal work.
But hours after the audit press conference, Republican legal