The Developing Foxworth Scandal
Since news emerged two days ago of a tort claim filed against Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth, the story has developed a number of wrinkles. The claim, filed by desk clerk with the police department, Angela Oswalt, accuses Foxworth of "sexual impropriety," beginning in 2000, before he became police chief. Yesterday, the City released the claim, which contained portions of explicit emails purportedly sent by Foxworth. Further developments:
- Foxworth remains on the job while the City investigates the allegations. Mayor Potter: "[M]y main concern is in ensuring that this process is both impartial and fair to everyone involved."
- The allegations arise from pressure Foxworth allegedly put on Oswalt in 2000, while he was still married.
- The claim alleges that then-Chief Kroeker and Vera Katz knew about his "blonde girlfriend" and had ordered Foxworth to end the relationship.
- The claim further alleges that Foxworth claimed to have a connection at Willamette Week "that would protect him."
- Former mayor Vera Katz denies knowing about the relationship, and calls Oswalt's claims "outrageous."
- Strangely, Foxworth's emails seem to implicate Kroeker in a different sexual misconduct coverup, which he condemned in the emails.
- The Oregonian today called for Foxworth's resignation.
Discuss.
April 06, 2006
Posted in open discussion. |
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3:39 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
The ick factor in this mess is really shudder inducing. But it seems like there's little focus on possible illegalities. I'd heard reported on KPOJ news this AM that Oswalt is claiming Foxworth gave her inside information regarding ongoing cases. But that's the only place I've heard/seen this.
I would think that would be enough to fire him. But if its not true and its just a sleazy sexual affair..is that enough to ask him to step down or be fired?
3:42 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
It'll be fascinating to see if The Oregonian is half as outraged by the news that the President of the United States apparently personally authorized the leaking of classified national security information for political purposes as they are about the fact that Derrick Foxworth apparently had an affair with a subordinate in the middle of divorcing his wife.
If the evidence indicates the woman was coerced then Foxworth needs to go. If what he did was have an affair and talk dirty in email then it's already gotten a lot more attention than it deserves.
Whatever happened between Foxworth and Oswalt, her lawyer certainly comes across as a sleazy little weasel. The submission to the mayor reads like a blackmail note. It includes a lot of allegations embarrassing to Foxworth but having no bearing on the claim of sexual harrassment and comes complete with a demand for a fast settlement with the explicit threat of making it all public if they don't get it. All that's missing is a demand to put the money in a brown paper bag and leave it on a park bench.
Whatever else comes out of this, kudos to the mayor for not succumbing to that pressure.
3:43 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
Yeah it's a mess and having so many people involved makes it just more complicated. I don't have an opinion about Foxworth (probably because I've been away from Portland for 2 years), but it appears he might be in some deep trouble whether the allegations are true or not.
4:08 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
I hope they don't run his naked chocolate brown body out of town for what seems to have been a consensual affair!
4:11 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
Maybe what's needed is a statement reaffirming his faith, Christianity and placing the blame where it really belongs: Erik Sten for causing his lapse in judgement.
Apr 6, '06
Even if this was a consensual relationship and no department policies were violated, the fact that a highly placed public official had such poor judgment as to send those emails causes me to conclude that he needs to go. Even if you concede that he was probably thinking with a part of his anatomy other than his brain, anybody with a normal amount of common sense should have considered the possibility that all those X-rated emails might someday be made public by the recipient.
I guess the good news here is that there are no videos being released.
Yet.
Apr 6, '06
Where's Bud "Whoop Whoop" Clark when we need him?
Clark to former Chief Jim Davis at the Fat City Cafe:
"Read my lips. You're fired!"
Clark to former Chief Penny Harrington:
"You're Tits Up!"
. . . oops, he (literally) paid for that one.
Potter to Foxworth:
"Say, Derrick, to assist in my fair and full investigation, where again does that blonde chick live?"
Apr 6, '06
Now, I'd hate to be a conspiracy theorist and think the complainant had saved all those lurid emails for several years, just waiting for the right time to spring a trap and file a claim against the City for sexual harassment, etc. I wonder if she has an unwashed little blue dress in her closet, too.
Apr 6, '06
The angle the Oregonian seems to be missing is the possibility that others in the Portland Police Bureau are trying to force Foxworth out. Even if the woman did have a case (the affair was apparently consensual) the statute of limitations has run on practically everything.
The woman's lawyer, Vic Calzaretta, a former member of the Portland Police himself, has a long standing relationship with the police union and has been representing police and firefighters for over twenty years. The case has little, if any, monetary value given the staleness of the charges and the consensual nature of the relationship. The only value it had was in the threat to expose Foxworth's emails, and now that the cat's out of the bag, that value is gone. Calzaretta wouldn't be pursuing it like this if there weren't others at the Portland Police Bureau who were on board. They are his real clientele.
Apr 6, '06
correction: Calzaretta may have been with the Vancouver police. Nevertheless, he has a longstanding reputation for a close relationship with the Portland Police.
Apr 6, '06
Posted by: Pudintane | Apr 6, 2006 4:38:10 PM
<h1>I wonder if she has an unwashed little blue dress in her closet, too.</h1>Pudin-head,
Does she really need a stained & unwashed dress to help her case?
Did Foxy wag his finger at us and declare: "I did not have sexual relations with that women!"??
Nope. Rather, Foxy just smeared us all with how proud he was of his large, grand, chocolate brown, massive manhood he has.
Monica needed the dress to prove she wasn't full of lies.
Foxy is proud of his bonking underlings while on company time. At least Willy tried to deny it, but couldn't. Foxy loves the attention his large chocolate manhood is getting.
10:13 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
Foxworth's lawyers have released a statement on his behalf. So far his lawyers sound more like professional lawyers and less like amateur shakedown artists.
Oswalt's lawyer has now added to the legal complaint the assertion that Foxworth identifying his client constitutes harrassment because now the media keep bothering her. He describes this as "scorched earth tactics".
The statement released by Foxworth's lawyers disputes the claim that he was her direct supervisor and asserts that the means of communication he used were personal, not city-owned. Those things should be easy to determine.
As I said before, if her story of coercion is true, Foxworth should be fired.
But if he's telling the truth it will be a travesty if these sleazeball tactics sway opinion enough that he has to leave anyway. Are we going to bounce everyone who ever did anything stupid and embarrassing in their personal lives? It is important not to minimize real misconduct and to hold people accountable for it but declaring open season for character assassination doesn't get us where we want to go either.
10:29 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
I waffle between thinking Willy's inappropriate comments should be removed and thinking that it's always good to have a reminder of how much virulent racism still lurks barely below the surface in situations like this one.
I hope racism was not a factor in The Oregonian editorial board's precipitous rush to judgment but it certainly has given those people cover. I hope that gives the editorial board pause.
11:11 p.m.
Apr 6, '06
I actually wonder if the O's comment wasn't overcompensation for letting the Goldschmidt thing pass. They were also really tone-deaf on the Wu allegations. The O + sex = debacle, it seems.
Apr 7, '06
I hope racism was not a factor in The Oregonian editorial board's precipitous rush to judgment
No chance of that. When was the last time the Oregonian called for a a public official's head based solely on a lawyer's court filing?
Apr 7, '06
Hey Willy,
I think you missed the point of my post. My reference to "the unwashed little blue dress" was simply a metaphore to describe what else the complainant might have in her arsenal to prove her claims of sexual oppression and misconduct by Foxworth. Could she possibly have videotaped their hot-tub drinking adventures? Does she have any witnesses to the alleged drinking-on-duty?
7:52 a.m.
Apr 7, '06
I actually wonder if the O's comment wasn't overcompensation for letting the Goldschmidt thing pass.
Good point, Jeff, and tone-deaf describes it perfectly. That extends well beyond issues involving sex, for that matter.
Apr 7, '06
And Jeff, don't forget Packwood, the O has a pretty lousy track record of ignoring politicians sex scandals:-)
Apr 7, '06
Whatever the outcome of this legal issue, if I were the claimant, I'd move out of the Portland area once this is settled. She already has one DUII conviction and there is a lot of potential for more of them or worse. Knowing the way some local cops do things around here, she could have some real problems.
Apr 8, '06
Angela Oswalt is a very twisted deranged individual, as a next door neighbor I have witnessed her hot tub parties (you can see from our deck), she has entertained, willingly many a man there. She has exposed her naked body to every member of her family. She even tried to seduce my husband. Her reputation is less than stellar.
My family has been harrassed by her Angela a period of years. She repeatedly called the police on us over 30 times, alot of them were 911 calls (what a waste of our taxpayers money), lying, telling them that she feared for her life and how we had vandalized her home to win their sympathy. She also called CSD, and the Humane Society. I reported her to Internal Affairs, I also had to go to a mediator through Clackamas County to stop Angela from harrassing us. She refused to participate in mediation. She still threatens me that she is going to call the police on me for whatever she can think of.
There are so many details about Angela that I wish I could explain but it writes like a white trash novel, she could be the guest star on Jerry Springer. After reading the tort claim, how can any person in their right mind put those emails out there for the world to see. Angela, you have a daughter, don't you care about her?
Angela has destroyed every relationship she has ever had, her family friends, neighbors and now the the city. She is poison and her claims of harassment are false in my opinion. As a person who has been on the side of harrasment from her, I know all too well what she is really about.
Derrick needs to stay the course and don't back down. He just picked the wrong person to have a consenual affair with. I feel sorry for you and your family. The truth will come out about her.
If the city does end up paying her off, I hope she moves away for here.
Apr 8, '06
This rings true. There are women who prey upon society for their personal benefit and a measure of revenge for having been dumped by men. They don't understand the reason for their own relationship failures is themselves. They enjoy the spider/fly game of enticing men into physical relationships then using, abusing really, the legal system to destroy them.
Having been a recipient of a psychotic neighbor woman's wrath for refusing to have any sexual contact with her, I know only too well how much power they can wield when they hook up with members of the police department. Unfortunately, the legal system is only too willing to accept at face value the hysterical screams of a demented woman who claims she is "in fear of her safety" from someone she targets.
It sounds like Chief Foxworth has done the right thing by remaining strong in the face of this obvious attempt at blackmail. I hope he files a countersuit against her for libel and character assasination. IMO, women like this deserve to have the legal system turned on them when they abuse it.
10:22 a.m.
Apr 8, '06
And Jeff, don't forget Packwood, the O has a pretty lousy track record of ignoring politicians sex scandals:-)
The list grows!
Apr 8, '06
"Beware" has had a taste of phycho women out there. sleo also has been in that boat, in fact her whole family was subject to angela's abuse and phycho drama. I met angela in 1993 and by the end of the week i stayed clear of her. she is scary and capable of most anything.my story is worse. my ex married an attorney. I think in their prenup she got 2 free lawsuits a year. She's been usng them, need i say more. stay the course chief,we know the truth because we know angela. ps what the hell were you thinking?
Apr 9, '06
Doretta,
Willy was merely repeating how ChocoFox described himself in his cheesy emails. You should read them -- they're hysterical and yet tragic. Willy was making a FoxMock!
8:09 a.m.
Apr 9, '06
Alan,
The problem with your comment is the word "merely".
The problem with Willy's self-justification for his comment is that Foxworth didn't "smear us all" with anything. What Foxworth did was privately talk dirty with someone he was having a sexual relationship with. Oswalt is doing the smearing.
Apr 9, '06
Whereas I feel sorry for those that have had past problems with Ms. Oswalt, you ( Sleo ) ask how she could put her daughter and family through this. Lady, your comments on this forum are just as hurtful. After all, the daughter can READ! Once again we are judging a person through the media. And yes, I knew Angela briefly while living in the area. We all have problems and we all air them in some shape or form. It's called having " alittle compassion ". However, I'm sure your troubles with her are real, but....a forum is not a place to air your anger.
Apr 9, '06
Oh, come on, Kmkats57, the public deserves to know the "other side" of things behind this lawsuit. Now that the tort claim and those sordid emails have been made public, causing untold personal pain and career damage to Chief Foxworth, it is only fair to hear about the character of the so-called "victim" in this scenario.
As I stated in a previous post, I know only too well how a psychotic divorcee' with a strong sexual appetite for policemen can cause immense anguish for her neighbors who she percieves, rightly or wrongly, frown upon her open, promiscuous lifestyle in a family neighborhood. Nobody cares what these women do in the privacy of their home, but when it is forced upon other neighbors to see and hear on a constant basis outside, then someone has to voice an objection. That is the point where these psychos muster up all their legal and quasi-legal resources to abuse the system and cause needless hostility through repetitive bogus calls to 911 and other forms of harassment such as property vandalism.
Ms. Oswalt is now in a position of having to prove her numerous claims of wrongdoing against Chief Foxworth. If she cannot document or prove her assertions he drank liquor on duty, drove an unmarked squad car while under the influence, shared confidential City information with her and threatened her in any way, she, in my opinion, will be open to a countersuit from Foxworth that could have the effect of driving her into financial ruin. After all, she, through her attorney, has seemingly destroyed the credibility and career of Chief Foxworth. And, for what, revenge, financial gain or both?
Keep in mind, so far we have mostly heard only the complainant's side of this story. Foxworth, as the defendant, is unable to respond unless and until this matter is settled.
In my opinion, this tort claim is nothing more than a desperate attempt by a vicious, psychotic woman hoping to blackmail the City into settling, out of court, for enough money to retire early. I hope she fails miserably and loses her (bottle) blonde financial butt.
6:44 p.m.
Apr 9, '06
The most important thing to remember about all this is that no one but Foxworth and Oswalt know for sure what really happened.
We can have our opinions but we become nothing but an obnoxious part of the story ourselves if we take part in railroading either party based on nothing but our opinions.
By what right do we contribute to making it impossible for Foxworth to be chief of police or Oswalt to live in the city without harrassment? Pitchforks, clubs and torches anyone? Tar and feathers?
There's an investigation ongoing. I think that at a minimum it behooves us to wait for its conclusion and make our judgments on the best information available.
Apr 10, '06
Doretta, you said
I did not see his justification before I posted, HOWEVER, I still argue that Willy (and do you know anything about Willy -- what if he's Black -- does that change things?) has the right to mock the hilarious emails. They became public record at the moment they were created.
Assuming I'm White, (and again, you don't know), and I write in an email that I want to plunge my massive vanilla cock into . . . is that racist? Or is the person who mocks what I said racist?
Apr 10, '06
It is just as fair to post our opinions here as it is for The Oregonian and Portland Tribune newspapers to post their editorial opinions. Both have called for Chief Foxworth's resignation after only hearing the complainant's side of the issue.
8:48 p.m.
Apr 10, '06
They became public record at the moment they were created.
Like hell they did.
It is just as fair to post our opinions here as it is for The Oregonian and Portland Tribune newspapers to post their editorial opinions.
Yes, exactly as fair. Which is to say, NOT. The Oregonian and The Portland Tribune, having a great deal more influence, are not being any less fair, but are being a lot more irresponsible.
Are they taking the position that anyone who has been accused of sexual harrassment should resign? Or just that anyone who wrote explicitly sexual notes should resign?
No, because it sounds stupid when you say it like that. So they are taking the position that he's lost the ability to lead because he's lost the public trust. Yeah, when the big voices say often enough that someone has lost the public trust it's likely to become a self-fullfilling prophecy.
Apr 11, '06
The Oregonian, the Portland Tribune and now, the Police Union are all calling for Foxworth's resignation/removal from office. And this after only hearing one side of the issue.
This is unfair to the extreme! The public needs to be patient and wait until more facts come out, especially from the defense side. People seem to be taking at face value all the accusations outlined in the tort claims. This is wrong!
It may come out these salacious emails were embellished and much of what she claims to have happened, did, in fact not happen. Remember, the burden of proof is on the claimant, not the defendant.
This woman, Oswalt, has opened a Pandora's Box and now she must accept the public scrutiny that will soon come her way. We know for a fact already she is a convicted DUII driver. I wonder what other skeletons SHE has in her closet?
Apr 11, '06
"Oswalt recently worried out loud to a reporter that bringing disabled cops back to work would lead to civilian employees such as herself being let go." ...excert from article in today's Portland Tribune.
Isn't it amazing how a little investigative reporting can uncover the truth? If there was any doubt as to the motive of Foxworth's accuser, read the Portland Tribune article, then put two and two together.
Apr 12, '06
http://www.kgw.com/news/pdf/FoxworthTort3.pdf
<h2>This is the third tort claim filing that was made public yesterday. If you read the last paragraph, you can understand this is all about extortion and nothing more.</h2>