JOHN DAY, Ore. — Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer, facing a state criminal investigation, has raised $20,450 for his defense fund, most of it from people who don’t live in his county.
Palmer started the fund after the state Criminal Justice Division opened an investigation, which is ongoing, into whether he tampered with police records. Palmer also has been named in 11 complaints filed with the state agency that licenses police officers.
The investigation and complaints against Palmer resulted from his association and support for militants who seized the Malheur Wildlife National Refuge in January. Ryan Payne, a key organizer who is expected to plead guilty next week, was among those who traveled to John Day in January to meet with Palmer. The sheriff subsequently had Payne and another militant sign his pocket-sized copy of the U.S. Constitution.
Details about Palmer’s fundraising were disclosed in a report filed Thursday with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which oversees legal defense funds created by public officials. This was Palmer’s first report.
The Oregon Firearms Federation Political Action Committee, representing a gun rights group that has long supported Palmer, gave the sheriff $5,000 — one-fourth of his defense fund. Palmer a year ago instructed his deputies not to enforce a new state law, Senate Bill 941, governing private gun sales.
“The Oregon State Legislature’s mandate to restrict or prohibit the private sale or transfer without a background check is in violation of the Oregon and U.S. Constitutions,” Palmer wrote in an Aug. 12, 2015, memo to his staff.
Palmer also collected $3,000 from Larry and Marianne Williams of Boise, Idaho. They own a ranching operation in Harney County. Their connection to Palmer couldn’t be immediately established.
The sheriff is required to identify donors giving $75 or more. His report included 48 such contributions, with seven from Grant County giving a combined $1,450.
Among the listed contributors is a “John Galt” of Galts Gulch, Calif. But there is no such city in California and the zip code listed is for the Oregon town of Malin. Galt’s Gulch is a fictional town in Ayn Rand’s novel “Atlas Shrugged.” One of the characters in the book: John Galt.
Palmer reported a $100 cash donation from Galt on June 7. The donation from an apparently fictional character was first reported by the Blue Mountain Eagle.
The trust fund said it collected $3,654 in donations of less than $75 and another $2,100 in in-kind contributions. Among those was a contribution of $35 worth of Constitutions.
Palmer’s law firm — Hostetter Law Group of Enterprise — donated $1,218 in legal service and was paid $5,217 for additional legal work, according to the report.
