THE DEMOCRAT PARTY'S Oregonian newspaper destroys a Swift Vets career with nasty sex information from 10 years ago. We were put on notice that this sort of thing was coming -- and now here it is.
Look for Andrew Sullivan's silence on this "violation of personal privacy" to be deafening.
In case you are wondering, the "Oregonian" did not publish any stories about John Kerry lying about his adventures in Cambodia. As the newspaper editorialises, "[y]ou can question the Swift Boat Veterans ads - and we have, strongly," but obviously not strongly enough to report one clear example where the Swifties' claim is clearly true.
Prosecutor who attacked Kerry admits lying to boss
Clackamas County puts Alfred French on leave after he says he misled his supervisor about an extramarital affair
Friday, August 27, 2004
STEPHEN BEAVEN
Clackamas County prosecutor Alfred French, who called Sen. John Kerry a liar in a political commercial, acknowledged Thursday that he lied to his boss when confronted about an extramarital affair with a colleague.
Hours later, the Clackamas County district attorney's office said French had been placed on a 30-day paid leave while it conducts an investigation into his conduct.
French's former boss, James O'Leary, said he asked French about the rumored affair with a secretary about 10 years ago, but French denied it. O'Leary said he would have fired French if he'd admitted the relationship because it violated office policy.
French, who said he served in the same military unit with Kerry for two months in 1969, has come under intense scrutiny in the past week as the anti-Kerry ad has become a central issue in the presidential campaign. Suddenly, the well-respected Oregon prosecutor found himself the target of questions about his own credibility and the truthfulness of his statements against Kerry.
French's affidavit supporting the ad accused Kerry of exaggerating his war record, yet French conceded that he was relying on the account of war buddies, not what he witnessed. Since then, he's faced pickets outside his office and complaints of unethical conduct to the state bar.
French admitted to The Oregonian that he had the affair and denied it to O'Leary. He declined to discuss details of the relationship, saying only that "it is an indiscretion that occurred during my employment."
The woman in question still works at the district attorney's office but does not report to French, according to the current Clackamas County district attorney, John Foote.
The woman could not be reached for comment.
Foote declined to say what aspects of French's conduct the office would investigate. But Chief Deputy District Attorney Greg Horner said the investigation is in response to the specific questions raised by The Oregonian.
"We're going to investigate all the facts we've been told, and once we get all the facts we're going to make a decision about what we should do," Foote said.
French, 58, was hired as an entry-level district attorney in Clackamas County in 1981. He served as Foote's chief deputy district attorney briefly and was later fired in July 1997 by Foote's successor, Terry Gustafson.
French then went to work at the Marion County district attorney's office. But when Foote beat Gustafson in a 2000 election rematch, Foote rehired French in June 2001.
Until his suspension, French served as the senior prosecutor in the Ward Weaver double murder case.
O'Leary said Thursday that he heard about the rumored affair about a year before he retired as Clackamas County district attorney in 1995. After French denied it, O'Leary did not talk to the woman but asked his chief legal secretary to do so, he said. No one was disciplined as a result.
At the time, O'Leary's policy forbade employees from having extramarital affairs with colleagues, he said. Clackamas County had a sexual harassment policy that covered the district attorney's office, but it did not specifically cover extramarital office romances.
After O'Leary retired, Foote was appointed to take his place, but was defeated by Gustafson in the 1996 election. When Gustafson took office, French was demoted to senior deputy district attorney.
According to Gustafson, French was fired because he took an unauthorized monthlong vacation in 1997 without telling her or her chief deputy.
In a letter dated June 30, 1997, she informed him he was fired but did not give a specific reason. She said she was advised by a county personnel official not to specify the reason for the firing in the letter. Horner and Foote said there is no indication of why French was fired in his personnel file.
French said the day he came back from vacation, Gustafson asked him to resign. He said she has never given him a reason for firing him.
"She said, 'You're not with the program,' " French said. "That was the only thing she'd say."
Gustafson, however, said it is "absurd" to suggest she never told French why he was fired, adding that he did not appeal the termination.
"Absolutely, I told him why he was fired," she said. "I told him he was fired because he left the district attorney's office for four weeks without giving anyone any notice."
French said he thought his time off had been authorized.
Gustafson was disbarred in 2002 by the Oregon Supreme Court for unethical conduct and violating state law.
Foote said he was not aware of the affair when he rehired French after the election. He did not ask Gustafson why French was fired. He asked French, who told him that she hadn't given a reason.
Foote later heard a rumor about the relationship. But he never asked French about it, saying he thought it "was a personal matter and I try not to mix people's personal lives with work."
He said he does not think he ever talked to French about it in detail until contacted by The Oregonian on Thursday.
"I do think this is the first time I really sat down with him and said, 'What is this about?' " Foote said.
Since the anti-Kerry commercial catapulted to the forefront of the presidential campaign last week, French has been the target of protesters who say he violated legal ethics in his affidavit.
In the document, French said Kerry "wildly exaggerated and lied about his record in Vietnam." He asserts Kerry received two of his three Purple Hearts under false pretenses.
French also said Kerry lied about the record of their unit twice when he returned from Vietnam. But French later acknowledged that he was relying on the account of trusted friends when he said Kerry lied about the two Purple Hearts.
Stephen Beaven: 503-294-7663; stevebeaven@news.oregonian.com
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