Complaint filed against Oregon bar member Kulongoski
*linked to disgraced child molester-resigned Oregon Bar member Goldschmidt sex abuse

05:59 PM PDT on Monday, October 15, 2007
By KGW Staff

The revelations that ended the political career of one Oregon Governor and caused on Oregon State Bar member to resign while facing disbarment- now threaten another Governor and member of the Oregon State Bar.

Former Governor Neil Goldschmidt's sexual abuse of a 14-year-old hired to babysit his children while he was Mayor of Portland ended his public career.

On Monday, radio talk show host Lars Larson sent a letter to the Oregon State Bar, requesting an investigation into whether Kulongoski, who is a lawyer, lied about having knowledge of Goldschmidt’s conduct and, if so, whether his Oregon Bar license should be revoked.

"If all of these other people are going to be held to account...I think Kulongoski should as well," Larson told KGW.

Letter says Kulongoski knew of abuse

In a letter to state regulators investigating Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Giusto, Fred Leonhardt, a former speech writer for Goldschmidt, stated that current governor Ted Kulongoski lied to the public about his knowledge of the abuse.

Kulongoski denied any knowledge

In June of 2004, shortly after the allegations against Goldschmidt became public, Kulongoski told KGW he knew nothing of Goldschmidt's abuse. Kulongoski specifically denied hearing anything from Leonhardt, saying: "He never told me about… he never told me that,” said Kulongoski in the interview.

But Leonhardt says that was false. In a letter sent to investigators at the Department of Public Training and Safety, Leonhardt wrote that he told Kulongoski in 1991 or 1992 that Bernie Giusto had told him of the former governor's abuse of the babysitter.

Leonhardt wrote: "Kulongoski's response was, ‘it might be true’."

In the letter, Leonhardt says that he was at a Christmas party with Giusto in December 1994 where Giusto told him the sex abuse scandal was about to break in the newspaper. Leonhardt says he immediately warned Kulongoski, who was also at the party.

"I told him everything I had heard from Giusto no more than ten minutes earlier," wrote Leonhardt.

Leonhardt says he has subsequently taken and passed a lie detector test.

A spokeswoman for Kulongoski told KGW on Monday that the governor was unable to comment since he was busy preparing for a terrorism exercise to be staged in Portland.

"We are focusing on more serious issues than a complaint from a talk show host," said spokeswoman Patty Wentz.

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Kulongoski is a Liar and the Oregon State Bar Couldn't Care Less click here