Tue Jun 19, 2012, 10:23 AM

L. Coyote (31,416 posts)

Republican Leader Matt Wingard accused of sexual misconduct w/ minor, providing alcohol, and payola

This news may tip the scales in the Oregon Legislature in November. Also, Wingard now has NO chance of chairing the Education Committee again, where he could control legislation to the benefit of his own charter school business interests!

Hopefully, he will remain the candidate in his heavily-Republican district so voters are allowed to kick him out.

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A Violation of Trust?
A former legislative aide accuses a lawmaker of sexual misconduct.
June 13th, 2012 NIGEL JAQUISS - http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-19321-a_violation_of_trust.html

A former aide to Deputy House Republican Leader Matt Wingard (R-Wilsonville) has accused him of giving her alcohol when she was underage, pressuring her to have sex, and keeping her on the public payroll after she ended the relationship with him and stopped reporting for work.

The former aide first approached the Oregon Department of Justice in January with allegations about Wingard’s conduct, which she says took place in 2010, beginning when she was 20.

The DOJ, and later the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, interviewed the woman. Both agencies declined to bring charges, concluding there was no crime committed or the statute of limitations had run out. Neither agency interviewed Wingard about her allegations.

.............

=======================
Editorials = By The Oregonian Editorial Board
Wingard should go = Monday, June 18, 2012
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/06/wingard_should_go.html

There is no way to make this look good ... an ankle-low standard for behavior by public officials.

... Rep. Matt Wingard, R-Wilsonville, conducted a four-month-long sexual relationship with a 20-year-old employee ... gave her alcohol when she was underage, drugged her and kept her on his House payroll even after she stopped going to work because she could no longer stand the sight of him.

... Wingard ... now admits, "In hindsight, I should not have entered into the relationship and for that, I offer my most sincere apology."

That was enough for Wingard to resign as deputy House Republican leader, and for House Republican leader Kevin Cameron, R- Salem, to declare that "our caucus does not approve of inappropriate relationships between officials or managers and their subordinates."

...

Wingard remains the GOP nominee for a third term in the state House ...

11 replies, 1179 views

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11 replies	Author	Time	Post
Republican Leader Matt Wingard accused of sexual misconduct w/ minor, providing alcohol, and payola (Original post)	L. Coyote	Jun 2012	OP
keeping her on the payroll after she stopped reporting for work	Enrique	Jun 2012	#1
Oregon House GOP leadership indicates Rep. Matt Wingard's fate remains undecided	L. Coyote	Jun 2012	#2
Can he be impeached? Seems worse than anything Bill Clinton did.	sinkingfeeling	Jun 2012	#3
He'll go to rehab, find (re-find?) Gawd, and will get a radio show and or write for some right wing	SoCalDem	Jun 2012	#4
The slow demise of Matt Wingard	L. Coyote	Jun 2012	#5
Wingard would frequently host parties at his house and provide alcohol to minors ...	L. Coyote	Jun 2012	#6
Strictly, "sexual misconduct w/ minor" isn't accurate	muriel_volestrangler	Jun 2012	#7
Where is the media on this?	Blue_Tires	Jun 2012	#8
This is all over the media, and the state's newspaper of record is saying "resign now"	L. Coyote	Jun 2012	#9
UPDATE: Wingard has dropped his candidacy. He's done.	stevedeshazer	Jun 2012	#10
This is to make sure a Dem does niot capture his seat, a heavily-R district.	L. Coyote	Jun 2012	#11

Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 10:36 AM

Enrique (22,597 posts)

1. keeping her on the payroll after she stopped reporting for work

that should be theft, or fraud, or something.

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 10:37 AM

L. Coyote (31,416 posts)

2. Oregon House GOP leadership indicates Rep. Matt Wingard's fate remains undecided

Oregon House GOP leadership indicates Rep. Matt Wingard's fate remains undecided
Monday, June 18, 2012, 6:18 PM
Jeff Mapes, The Oregonian = http://www.oregonlive.com/mapes/index.ssf/2012/06/oregon_house_gop_leadership_in_1.html

Republican House leaders in Salem held a series of meetings Monday to discuss the fate of Rep. Matt Wingard, R-Wilsonville, following revelations that he had been accused of sexual misconduct by a former aide.

House Republican Leader Kevin Cameron of Salem refused to comment on whether GOP leaders may seek to push Wingard to resign from the House -- and whether the leadership is looking for another candidate to take his place.

"We take these allegations seriously and we've been meeting with our leadership team throughout the day and we're going to continue to investigate until we get all our facts," said Cameron.

Cameron said that he wanted to "have all the facts in front of us" before making any determinations about Wingard's future.

.........................

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 10:38 AM

sinkingfeeling (27,783 posts)

3. Can he be impeached? Seems worse than anything Bill Clinton did.

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 10:38 AM

SoCalDem (99,663 posts)

4. He'll go to rehab, find (re-find?) Gawd, and will get a radio show and or write for some right wing

and after suitable time has passed, he will run again and probably be elected..

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 10:39 AM

L. Coyote (31,416 posts)

5. The slow demise of Matt Wingard

The slow demise of Matt Wingard
Carla Axtman = http://www.blueoregon.com/2012/06/slow-demise-matt-wingard/

When Matt Wingard (R-Wilsonville) chose to enter Oregon House politics, he showed up with baggage. And not just the carry-on size. Wingard brought a steamer trunk full of personal foibles and accusations., not the least of which had to do with smacking his kid with a screwdriver.

After having spent some time in the job, things haven't improved much for him. Wingard has been dogged by allegations of plagiarism. His position on the House Education Committee is rife with conflict of interest issues and his unwillingness to work with colleagues has led to some legendary committee dysfunction.

It would appear that Wingard will need to acquire a new steamer trunk to contain the latest set of problems. ................

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 11:02 AM

L. Coyote (31,416 posts)

6. Wingard would frequently host parties at his house and provide alcohol to minors ...

Lawmaker leaves leadership post after sex, alcohol claims
Rep. Matt Wingard apologizes and quits as deputy GOP leader

By Jonathan Cooper

The Associated Press

Jun 14, 2012 = http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/28227780-41/wingard-woman-alcohol-investigators-relationship.html.csp

.....

Authorities at the state Department of Justice closed their investigation without filing charges after the woman, now 23, said the sex was consensual.

According to the investigators’ report, the woman told authorities in January that Wingard pursued her while she worked for him during the 2009 legislative session. She said Wingard would ignore her if she didn’t agree to his requests to have dinner or to send explicit text messages. She said she felt like Wingard was punishing her, so she complied to avoid a hostile work environment.

The woman ... also told investigators that Wingard would frequently host parties at his house and provide alcohol to minors, and that she attended several of them before she was 21.

....

Investigators concluded the sexual relationship was not a crime because the woman consented to it, and the statute of limitations had run out on alcohol charges.

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 12:04 PM

muriel_volestrangler (65,276 posts)

7. Strictly, "sexual misconduct w/ minor" isn't accurate

since she was 20 when it started, and no-one calls that age 'a minor' when it comes to sex. It's only the puritanical US alcohol laws that call that 'a minor'.

However, there is the allegation of drugging her, which is damn serious - if true, it could make it rape.

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 12:08 PM

Blue_Tires (31,647 posts)

8. Where is the media on this?

Guess they're all exhausted from the John Edwards trial

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Response to Blue_Tires (Reply #8)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 09:15 PM

L. Coyote (31,416 posts)

9. This is all over the media, and the state's newspaper of record is saying "resign now"

because they don't want to see the seat lost to a Dem

But, rest assured, this is not being ignored. The media broke the story, as you would know, if you read the media links.

Of course, Rs doing this is so common it does not make national news

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Response to L. Coyote (Original post)

Tue Jun 19, 2012, 09:35 PM

stevedeshazer (21,653 posts)

10. UPDATE: Wingard has dropped his candidacy. He's done.

http://oregoncatalyst.com/17627-rep-matt-wingard-seeking-reelection.html

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Response to stevedeshazer (Reply #10)

Wed Jun 20, 2012, 08:58 AM

L. Coyote (31,416 posts)

11. This is to make sure a Dem does niot capture his seat, a heavily-R district.

If he had stayed in the race, the balance in Oregon might have tilted too much against them. As is, they will have a big problem overcoming Obama's coattail effect.

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