Ellen to Feds: Don't ask too many questions

Here's a funny turn in the Shemia Fagan spectacle: The state Department of Justice is asking the federal prosecutors to scale back their subpoenas of state agencies in the investigation of whatever was going on between Fagan and the weed operators to whom she was beholden. As told by the Weed (and they oughta know): 

The eight-page letter to the feds, penned by a deputy chief in the DOJ’s trial division, Sheila Potter, proposed that the feds work with the state to figure out how to narrow the subpoenas so that responding would be less than a “herculean” task. Her letter was first reported by Jeff Eager, a blogger in Bend.

“The subpoenas as written would encompass millions of pages of documents, most of which would be of no use to the grand jury or to investigators,” Potter wrote. “I am confident that we can work together to come up with a set of requests that should provide the grand jury with helpful, relevant information without overly burdening multiple state agencies that are also engaged in the important business of state government.”

In other words, boys, it's your job to take down the pot people and beat up on Fagan. Do not start turning over more rocks than you absolutely need to.

And as for the subpoena issued to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, Potter said unspecified criminal investigations could complicate document production.

“Responsive documents would likely include criminal offender information, which is confidential under state law and protected by federal law,” Potter wrote. “We think it is unlikely that such information would be relevant to your investigation (although certainly let me know if the nature of the investigation does require that data).”

Oh, to be an ambitious young assistant U.S. attorney. You could make quite a name for yourself if you followed all the threads. Gatsby Wyden might even make you a judge just to get rid of you. Or you could run Reed College for a while.

And it's amazing that once again, for the second time in the course of five months, we hear "stop asking questions" about the OLCC. It's almost as if they're hiding something quite dirty.