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Oregon Attorney General 'Considering Options' Regarding The Governor

File photo of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and Oregon first lady Cylvia Hayes in December 2013.
Michael Clapp
/
OPB
File photo of Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and Oregon first lady Cylvia Hayes in December 2013.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said recent allegations against Governor John Kitzhaber and first lady Cylvia Hayes are "serious and troubling."

The state ethics commission is looking into accusations the governor and first lady used their offices for personal gain and the Democrat said in a statement her office is considering all options.

She would not elaborate. But many people are calling on Rosenblum to investigate the governor and the first lady.

The Oregon Department of Justice certainly has the power to do that. But the Attorney General is also technically the governor's attorney, so there's a bit of a dual role that the attorney general has to balance in this particular situation.

Rosenblum's statement comes days after the editorial board of The Oregonian -- the state’s largest newspaper -- called on Kitzhaber to resign. The governor says he has no plans to do so.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.