Blue state corruption is rampant.
The Oregon Department of Justice is looking into claims that senior officials in the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission used their connections to obtain whiskey that costs thousands of dollars a bottle.
This allegedly had been going on for years — and included members of the Oregon Legislature.
The Oregon Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into allegations that senior officials in the state’s alcohol regulatory agency violated ethics laws by diverting rare, sought-after bourbons for personal use, the state attorney general said Friday.
The officials said they were paying for the whiskey, which can cost thousands of dollars a bottle, but they allegedly used their knowledge and connections at the commission to obtain the products, according to an internal investigation by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission.
The practice had purportedly been going on for many years and involved not only state employees but also members of the Oregon Legislature, the OLCC investigator was told.
The practice consequently deprived well-heeled whiskey aficionados among the public of the tiny-batch boutique bourbons.
This violated Oregon ethics laws.
Oregon ethics laws prohibit public officials, such as OLCC managers and legislators, from using their official positions for private gain that would not be available but for those positions. In the case of the rare whiskeys—which may have a market value of 10 or 20 times the state price because of their scarcity—the private benefit would simply be the opportunity to purchase bottles not generally available to the public.
All the OLCC officials told investigators they did not resell the bottles they improperly obtained, but the veracity of those claims is now likely going to be tested by DOJ investigators. Another possible avenue for investigation: whether OLCC officials used the rare whiskeys to improperly influence lawmakers who control the agency’s budget and its scope of work.
No wonder Oregon is doing so poorly!
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