She needed her own private server.
Via WISTV
The state of Oregon on Friday released 94,000 emails involving the fiancee of former Gov. John Kitzhaber, who resigned amid scandal earlier this year over allegations that the former first lady used her relationship with him to land contracts for her business.
The emails show the very active role that Cylvia Hayes, Kitzhaber’s longtime companion, played in his administration, as well as the tension that it sometimes raised with the governor’s staff. Hayes routinely attended meetings, was copied on emails among senior staff and requested information or clerical assistance from state employees.
Kitzhaber had downplayed her role in the administration, insisting she was not adviser or public official, which would require her to adhere to the ethics laws that he and his staff must uphold.
Kitzhaber, a Democrat, resigned in February, saying the influence-peddling allegations surrounding Hayes had become too much of a distraction. The FBI is investigating and has issued subpoenas for the emails and thousands of other records.
The emails released Friday are messages between Hayes and the official email accounts for staff members in Kitzhaber’s office. Yet to be released are Hayes’ interactions with officials in other state agencies, as well as emails from her personal accounts that discussed state business. Hayes has filed a lawsuit seeking to block the release of her personal emails.
The emails show that Hayes was involved in policy meetings, and her input was sometimes sought on policy questions.
In one example from April 2011, shortly after Kitzhaber took office, the governor’s executive assistant sent an email to an aide assigned to Hayes. She had scheduled a meeting for two policy advisers, Kitzhaber and Hayes, but the governor had to leave early.
“They will discuss natural resource and jobs/economy-related issues,” the assistant wrote. “The Governor will stay for 15 minutes; but I expect the meeting to last 30 minutes.”[…]
Last year, Hayes complained to Kitzhaber’s communications director, Nkenge Harmon-Johnson, that a speech she gave didn’t go as well as it could have because a speechwriter hadn’t finished a draft. The writer had shifted to work on a late-scheduled speech for the governor.
Harmon-Johnson was later fired, in part because of her frosty relationship with the first lady, according to her termination letter.