The feds are coming! The feds are coming!

Bombshell report: A federal grand jury will meet in Oregon later this month to weigh criminal charges against former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan - and perhaps others.

Yes, I’m looking at you, Oregon.

The United States Department of Justice has issued subpoenas to a handful of Oregon state agencies seeking documents involving former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, in preparation for a grand jury that will convene later this month, according to The Oregonian (first with the story but behind subscriber paywall) and Willamette Week (with the first free story). The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, the Department of Revenue, the Government Ethics Commission and the Secretary of State have all received subpoenas, according to The Oregonian.

The reporting by The Oregonian and Willamette Week suggests the subpoenas address Fagan’s involvement with cannabis firm La Mota and its owners Rosa Cazares and Aaron Mitchell. Fagan resigned May 8 after Willamette Week reported she had inked a lucrative consulting contract with La Mota’s sister company Veriede Holding LLC while her office completed an audit into the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission’s regulation of the cannabis industry.

I am but a humble country lawyer with no particular expertise in federal criminal prosecution*, but I know enough to know the empaneling of a federal grand jury to investigate and weigh charges relating to political corruption in Oregon is a really, really big deal. If Oregonians ever see justice done with regard to the myriad corruption scandals swirling around Salem, it will likely occur because of this federal grand jury. If things go the way I think they might, and the way I think they probably should, the federal grand jury that is about to convene, likely in Portland, will soon become the epicenter of Oregon politics. Here’s why.

For the first time, a prosecutor that is not part of the Salem Democratic power structure is investigating Oregon’s recent spate of corruption allegations. Natalie Wright, the U.S. Attorney for Oregon, is the lead federal prosecutor in the state. She was appointed to the office by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the U.S. Senate last year. She has not received campaign donations from the Democratic Party of Oregon or La Mota and her career does not depend upon the political survival of any Oregon elected official, per se. This distinguishes her from the various Oregon prosecutors and investigators who have the authority to do what should be done but largely have not.

Yes, Wright was appointed by a Democrat and approved by a Democratic-controlled Senate, surely with the approval of Oregon’s two Democrat U.S. Senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley. However, U.S. Attorneys typically pride themselves on their independence from politics, and many savor the opportunity to burnish their careers with high-profile political corruption cases. Wright’s distance from the Oregon Democrat political machine she is probing is crucial.

Federal grand juries have a way of wandering. If the initial reporting is accurate, that prosecutors are focusing on Fagan and La Mota, that does not mean that is all they will bring to the grand jury. As new documentary and witness evidence is obtained, prosecutors may expand the scope of their probe to involve other actors and other acts.

And waiting, just adjacent to Fagan and La Mota, is Oregon governor Tina Kotek and La Mota. Kotek’s campaign donation haul from La Mota and its owners dwarfs Fagan’s, and Kotek fired La Mota foe number one, Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commissioner Steve Marks just as Fagan was getting on the cannabis business payroll. Kotek has denied she fired Marks at the request of La Mota, its owners, or Fagan.

I would wager the career federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office are already eyeing the Kotek-La Mota relationship. Kotek had already called on the Oregon Department of Justice to investigate criminal charges related against Fagan, who was all set to be the fall gal for the Salem La Mota scandal. Federal prosecutors do not share Oregon DOJ’s or Kotek’s political interest in confining criminal liability to Fagan.

A federal grand jury was last empaneled to investigate political corruption in Oregon in 2015, around the time then-Governor John Kitzhaber resigned under scrutiny for his fiancee Cylvia Hayes’ mixing private consulting work with official duties.

Federal grand juries, federal subpoenas, and the threat of federal prosecution, have a way of changing the incentives of people in state government quickly. The insular environment of Oregon politics, where everyone who matters is part of the same team, has been disrupted by an outside force who plays by different rules.

Be ready for things to really move, now.

*I would dearly love to talk with a current or former federal prosecutor to help me and my readers better understand what’s going on. If you are such a person, or know such a person, please drop me an email at jeff at eagerlawpc dot com. Sources will be confidential and information provided off the record unless the source explicitly says otherwise.