AS COLLAPSE GENERATES BUZZ THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF MICHAEL C. RUPPERT ON THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT RULING IN OREGON

I personally have no doubt that the timing of this release from the state of Oregon is intended to influence what kind of distribution deal the movie "CoLLapse" gets. I have sent the affidavits mentioned below to a reporter at the Medford Mail Tribune. Let's see where this goes next. Does anyone remember what happend to Scott Ritter?

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL C. RUPPERT REGARDING THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT DECISION RENDERED BY THE OREGON STATE BUREAU OF LABOR AND INDUSTRIES (BOLI)

September 24, 2009

The decision rendered by BOLI in this case is only against an administratively dissolved corporation and not against me personally. The sexual harassment case is based on a deliberate attempt to entrap and discredit my journalism and that of my former newsletter “From The Wilderness” (FTW).

BOLI’s ruling in the sexual harassment case bears no resemblance to the hearing I attended over three days in June of 2009. I have always maintained my complete innocence in this matter and still do. The record shows that the sexual harassment charges are directly connected to a burglary and smashing of FTW’s computers in June 2006; to a grossly flawed and biased police report prepared by the Ashland Police Department regarding that crime by an officer who was later discharged; and the admittedly improper leaking of that same report to The Ashland Daily Tidings which was engaged in an open vendetta against me before these events took place.

Stories from the Tidings were admitted as evidence in the harassment case. The then editor of the Daily Tidings, Scot Bolsinger, is now in prison for unlawful sex with a minor and other charges related to an ongoing investigation of racketeering and defrauding several local businesses out of what has been reported as hundreds of thousands of dollars. His paper had unfairly attacked me and been forced to print my editorial reply on unrelated issues before any of these other events took place in order to avoid litigation.

When these events occurred, stories appeared in several places (including the Tidings) alleging or implying that I had smashed my own computers. The smashing of the computers directly pertains to the sexual harassment case in that the computers contained (among other things) electronic communications, records and chats between the complainant in the harassment case and other individuals who have sought to protect their reputations. I have affidavits from an attorney and a colleague who were present with me in the Ashland Police offices on two separate occasions in 2007 and 2008 when Detective Randy Snow and later Deputy Chief Rick Walsh stated without equivocation that I was not a suspect, I had been cleared, and that there was no evidence of any misconduct on my part. The Ashland police were abject and unequivocal in their apologies for these "mistakes".

Over the course of three years I have spent an estimated $45,000 proving my innocence in all of the events which took place in Ashland. However, by the time the harassment case went to hearing I was out of money and compelled to represent myself without counsel even though it had been clearly established that personally I was at no risk of losing a penny. During that hearing the complainant's testimony and story were impeached several times. I produced two material witnesses. She had none. I produced other physical evidence which severely damaged her credibility, as did testimony from her own mother. All of that was ignored or mischaracterized in the current ruling. In spite of that, elements of these other allegations were introduced in the harassment case and I was prevented from fully addressing them.

What happened in Ashland goes much deeper than this one case. There is a record spanning decades of unfounded attempts to discredit me personally when there was no other way to discredit my investigations and reporting.

BOLI engaged in a documented and malicious political prosecution against me and, in my opinion, found itself in a position where it had to support the actionable conduct of its case presenter in this case. Had the ALJ's ruling reflected the facts as presented in the hearing then BOLI itself, would have been exposed to possible legal action. The Administrative Law Judge is himself a BOLI employee. No discussion of the harassment case will be complete unless it goes into the burglary, the smashing of my computers and the documented misconduct of the Ashland Police Department and the Ashland Daily Tidings. I am in possession of two affidavits regarding the burglary which clearly support my position and which I will gladly make available (along with affiants themselves) to legitimate news entities

It is my intention to appeal this ruling to a higher court. However, at present I am totally without the estimated $25,000 necessary to pursue such an appeal. I will always maintain my complete innocence in this matter. Due to the possibility of an appeal I cannot discuss the merits of the case but rather encourage anyone interested to obtain a transcript of the hearing itself.

Michael C. Ruppert