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Oregon authorities won't investigate ballot complaint

A complaint, filed last month by Portland resident Richard Leonetti, back to the secretary of state's office to determine if it should take civil or administrative action, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported .
Credit: ANNA REED / Statesman Journal
Gov. Kate Brown delivers remarks at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Monday, March 5, 2018. (Photo: ANNA REED / Statesman Journal)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The state Department of Justice declined to open a criminal investigation into a complaint alleging that a ballot initiative agreement negotiated by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, Nike and a public employees union was illegal.

"There is no information that the proponents of (Initiative Petition 25) sought to qualify the petition for the ballot for an improper purpose or that any of the named individuals engaged in intimidation, blackmail or extortion," DOJ Criminal Justice Division chief counsel Michael Slauson wrote in a letter Wednesday to the secretary of state's office

Slauson referred the complaint, filed last month by Portland resident Richard Leonetti, back to the secretary of state's office to determine if it should take civil or administrative action, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported .

Leonetti's complaint focused on a move to keep the union's so-called corporate transparency initiative off the November ballot.

Initiative Petition 25 would have required large companies such as Nike to disclose their taxes and other sensitive information in filings with the state or pay a fine.

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