Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is under fire since news broke on April 27 that she had been moonlighting as a cannabis industry consultant while her office was conducting an audit that proved favorable to that industry.
The audit results essentially call to loosen regulation of the cannabis industry and encourage the state to provide financial assistance to help it grow.
Fagan claims she recused herself from the audit of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) before taking the contract. However, the recusal allegedly occurred after the audit was substantially finished.
The issue comes on the heels of two other controversies involving Fagan, including an investigation into $500,000 in campaign contributions from an entity connected with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to the Democrat Party of Oregon—with some of those funds going to the campaigns of Gov. Tina Kotek and Fagan—and another scandal related to OLCC, which Fagan oversees….