Democratic Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber resigned this week after it was discovered his fiancee was using her relationship with the far left governor to secure green-energy jobs.
His resignation will not end the criminal investigation against him.
Oregon Live reported:
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned effective Wednesday, Feb. 18, in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Kate Brown.
“I am announcing today that I will resign as Governor of the State of Oregon,” he wrote in a statement released just after noon Friday.
Brown, also a Democrat, will be sworn in as Oregon’s 37th governor, but the timing of that ceremony is uncertain.
Kitzhaber, 67, did not appear in public on Friday and neither did his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes. Instead, he issued a page-long statement that was released Friday that made clear his pain and frustration with having to abandon what was to be a historic fourth term. Yet, he wrote, he understood why the move was necessary.
“I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and, indeed, my entire adult life,” he wrote. “As a former presiding officer I fully understand the reasons for which I have been asked to resign.”
Kitzhaber had met with his staff midmorning to tell them his plan to step down.
State officials, organizations and unions issued statements Friday commending Kitzhaber’s work over his past three terms.
Here is the governor’s resignation statement.
