Smear and run

Here's a troubling story about the current state of the case of the Portland police leak of the false hit-and-run accusation against city commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty. It's been roughly two weeks since the incident, and  the only investigation currently going on is within the laughable "internal affairs" unit of the police bureau. That's the big rug that police atrocities get swept under.

On March 5, Mayor Ted Wheeler called for an independent review into the leaking of an incident report that incorrectly implicated Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty in a hit-and-run car crash....

Now, 13 days later, that investigation hasn't started. In fact, Wheeler and Hardesty still haven't finalized what that investigation will look like, or who will conduct it.

It also remains unclear whether their outside review will be split into two separate investigations—one looking into the leak itself, and a broader review of the Portland Police Bureau's culture and connections with the far-right—or if those two lines of inquiry will be one and the same.

Jim Middaugh, a spokesman for the mayor, says his office and Hardesty's are working diligently to get the investigation off the ground.

"The mayor is anxious to move as quickly as possible, but he's also really wanting to get it right and ensure that the result is credible at the end," Middaugh said. "This is not a simple procedure, so it's important to really dig in and make sure you're getting the scope right."

Sometimes you wonder how Dud Wheeler is able to tie his own shoes in the morning.