Yesterday Portland Mayor Sam Adams found out that the Oregon State Attorney General John Kroger would not be filing charges against him for Illegal Sexual Intercourse or Contact. The problems arose for Adams in 2005 after meeting and having "dates" with then 17 year old Beau Breedlove.
The Attorney Generals office found no creditable witnesses to the events of these "dates". Breedlove, himself lost creditability due to his ever changing story. Breedlove's story changed dramatically over the course of six different interviews with several different agencies, including the media and the Department of Justice.
The one part of the story that the DOJ seemed to miss was the part where Adams ask Breedlove to publicly lie about their relationship. They also seemed to miss the fact that Adams allegedly paid Breedlove $750 to keep his silence. All while Adams ran for the seat of Portland Mayor. Once more the legal system ends up with a black eye for not doing the right thing. It goes to prove if you have enough money to hold up proceedings long enough you to can get away with poor choices.
Breedlove's creditability came under attack due to his ever changing story, financial and celebrity gains and past criminal history. If it were not for these things, we would be faced with a much different outcome today.
Having sat here in Portland for the past 7+ months and listening to the ongoing reports and the investigation, Adams dodged a bullet. I have no doubt if this had been a case of a teacher being sexually involved with a 17 year old female student his butt would be sitting in jail today.
If this isn't enough about Adams and his poor choices in the past couple of years, he is also being sued by former press secretary Wade Nkrumah for remakes Adams made following Nkrumah's resignation. Then Adams' home and rental properties show up on a Pre-Foreclosure list last week. When ask about the pending auction of the properties in October, Adams replied that he had significant legal bills that had to paid upfront because of the Attorney Generals investigation.
A recall effort will start on July 7th. Dependin upon which report you subscribe to somewhere between 32,000 and 50,000 signatures are requires to add the recall election to the November ballot. Jasun Wurster told the Oregonian newspaper yesterday, "This report is by no means an exoneration of Adams' conduct. The citizens of Portland will have an opportunity to hold Sam Adams accountable." Let's hope so Jasun, let's hope so.
Link to the Attorney General's Report:
http://www.doj.state.or.us/releases/pdf/adams_investigation_report.pdf
www.recallsamadams.com
