By Carol D. Leonnig
Thursday, June 24, 2010;
A04
Authorities in Portland, Ore., investigated in late 2006 and early 2007 a masseuse's claim that she was sexually assaulted by former vice president and Nobel laureate Al Gore during his visit to that city, but the matter was eventually dropped for lack of evidence, officials said Wednesday.
The woman who alleged the assault through her lawyer declined initially to be interviewed by police and did not want officers to pursue the matter, the Multnomah County district attorney's office said Wednesday. She later reconsidered and met with Portland police detectives in January 2009, telling them she "was repeatedly subjected to unwanted sexual touching."
The detectives concluded after that interview that they lacked enough evidence to proceed with an investigation, the police department said in a statement.
"At this point, the Police Bureau does not consider this an ongoing investigation unless new evidence is received in this case," it said.
Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider declined to respond Wednesday to specific questions about the matter. When asked about it by the Portland Tribune in 2007 and 2008, Gore's attorneys strongly denied the claim, calling it "completely false."
The newspaper had obtained a copy of a preliminary investigative report of the allegations against Gore but chose not to publish an article on the matter. The Tribune reported on its Web site Wednesday that it did so, in part, because of the woman's reluctance to be named.
The lawyer for the woman first raised the allegation with the Portland Police Bureau in December 2006, about two months after Gore went to Portland to give a speech on climate change and to attend a fundraiser for Oregon's Democratic governor.
Police said they tried to make subsequent appointments to interview the woman, a licensed massage therapist, but the appointments were canceled.
In January 2007, the woman's lawyer, Randy Vogt, told police that she was pursuing civil litigation and declined further assistance from police. The lawyer then contacted the Secret Service, the FBI and the Oregon State Police to request an investigation.
According to the Multnomah district attorney's office, all three agencies referred the attorney to the Portland police, which had jurisdiction in the matter.
Vogt was not immediately available for comment. Officials for the Secret Service and the FBI declined to comment.
After the Tribune decided not to publish an article, the woman met with Portland detectives in January 2009 and restated the allegations in person, police said. She said she had kept clothing from the incident as evidence and offered it to the detectives, who declined to take it.
In June 2010, the woman returned to the department, asking for copies of her statements and reports on her claims, police said. "She also advised she was going to take the case to the media," police said.
The National Enquirer reported the claims Wednesday.
Portland police said that it typically doesn't discuss sex-crimes investigations but that it made an exception in this case "because of the high-profile nature of this case and the fact that the woman involved provided reports to a media outlet."
Gore was not under Secret Service protection in 2006.
Earlier this month, the former vice president and his wife, Tipper, surprised many friends and pundits by announcing they were separating after 40 years of marriage.
Staff writers Spencer S. Hsu and Jerry Markon contributed to this report.
Post a Comment
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.