BEND, Ore. (AP) — An independent investigation has found no official misconduct by the Deschutes County, Ore., district attorney in a 2011 grand jury investigation of information released in response to a public records request.
Oregon State Police investigated District Attorney Patrick Flaherty’s actions in response to a request by the state attorney general’s office after a complaint. That probe was reviewed by a Washington County prosecutor. Washington County Chief Deputy District Attorney F. Robert Bletko recently told Attorney General John Kroger that Flaherty’s actions were reasonable.
Flaherty’s probe focused on Deschutes County’s top civil lawyer, Mark Pilliod. Flaherty reportedly believed that Pilliod knowingly released more information than required when The Bulletin newspaper sought deputy district attorney’s job applications.
Bletko wrote March 4 to Kroger that some of the information in the job applications was exempt from disclosure.
Flaherty told a news conference Wednesday that the investigation “was triggered by false allegations, politics and personal agendas.” He called it a “waste of taxpayer money.”
