Newly released emails are shedding some light on John Kitzhaber's final days as Oregon governor. They're included in a batch of 15,000 emails released Thursday by current governor Kate Brown in response to public records requests.
On the night of February 12, John Kitzhaber was tying up some loose threads. He emailed several policy advisors looking for a few statistics. Here's an example: To his health policy advisor, Sean Kolmer, Kitzhaber wrote:
"Undoubtedly my last official email to you. Can you remind me how many Oregonians now have health insurance coverage?"
Kitzhaber used the answer the next day in a recording to announce his resignation.
"Tonight, over 95 percent of Oregonians will go to bed knowing that they will have health insurance coverage,” Kitzhaber said. “We did that together."
Kitzhaber's resignation took effect five days later. He and former First Lady Cylvia Hayes remain under a criminal ethics investigation.
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