Besides, you know, the whole thing.
The Secret Service, the FBI, and the Oregon State Police all refused to take the case when approached by the alleged victim, a 54-year-old massage therapist. They passed her on to the Portland Police Bureau. Before the police got a chance to interview her, she called Detective C. M. Waddell and told him she would file a civil suit, and no longer wished to press charges. “This case is exceptionally cleared as [name redacted] refuses to cooperate with the investigation or even report a crime,” wrote Waddell.
The Portland Tribune learned of the case but decided not to report on it. Tribune editor Mark Garber tells Politico that it didn’t pass “many of the test points that we would normally have to determine whether there was sufficient evidence that something inappropriate had occurred.”
The woman returned to the Police Bureau in January 2009, saying she wanted to file a complaint and record an interview explaining what happened. She was warned that her case might not hold due to the statute of limitations, but she still wanted her complaint on record.
She requested that document from the Police Bureau earlier this month. As police spokesperson Mary Wheat told the New York Times, she indicated to the police that she intended to take the article to the media.
The National Enquirer published the document yesterday. The tabloid is known for paying sources and tipsters dearly. So it’s entirely possible—though we can’t confirm—that the alleged victim was paid for her story.
The Police Bureau’s case file was updated last Friday, June 16. Detective Maggie Daul noted that she had received a revised transcript on June 3, and was placing it in the evidence file. “The investigation is concluded,” she wrote, less than a week ago. This update page is included in the report pdf.
Update 11:39 am: Dina Nishioka, PR Director for Hotel Lucia, says she can’t disclose whether or not Al Gore (or his alias, “Mr. Stone”) was in fact staying at the hotel on the night in question, October 24, 2006.
Want to see weird? The Oregonian, in a desperate, pathetic attempt to dig for an angle is trying to make a story of… Wall Street Journal Blog comments.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.s…
It’s their top placed, umm, “story” online. Oregon daily news is such a sad embarrassment.
And he co-wrote that WSJ op-ed with a guy named David Blood! Ha ha! Is the universe playing a trick on us?
“The Secret Service, the FBI, and the Oregon State Police all refused to take the case”
Why is that weird? only if the local police refused to take the case would this have been strange.
“The Portland Tribune learned of the case but decided not to report on it.”
I haven’t trusted this paper since the inception of their comment system on their site. They regularly will delete my comments, without provocation.
“The woman returned to the Police Bureau in January 2009”
She talked to an attorney with $$$ in their eyes.
What might be construed as strange is how the local media got out-scooped on such a scoop-able case. Are there reverse Pulitzers in your industry?
Golly, I can’t imagine why the Tribune deletes your comments.
*cough* troll *cough*
OK Pot.
–Obsidian Kettle
Gore is a douche, you can tell as much just by looking at him. So open your eyes and look.
I have a hard time believing that Gore would be trying to dial up prostitutes. Sure, politicians are basically all worthless….but which is more likely: Gore has been concealing his dastardly ways this entire time, or Portland has one more crazy woman?
This is all so typical of Al “Big Bone” Stone.
He could have gotten an erotic massage for less than $540. Maybe he bought some carbon credits to go with the hand finish. Speaking of which, what is the impact on the environment from such a release?
The idea of Al Gore screaming, “release my second chakra,” at anyone makes me laugh a little.
This is so absurd. She waited over three years to give the police a statement?! Clearly she is after money from some source or another, but I still don’t get the time delay if a word of this is true, which I sorta doubt. Gore is a rich and successful man. If he wanted sex with a masseuse, prostitute or whatever, I think he could’ve done better than a 50 year old one.
Oregon, like many other states, licenses and supervises massage therapists. The occupation has some risks and this is one of them. When I particiated in a licensing preparation program in Oregon, this risk got plenty of attention. How to protect the therapist and how to protect the client. One thing I remember is that the therapist would be expected to report an incident like this to the licensing board, to protect his or her own license and to protect other workers from intrusive or dangerous clients. Even as students, we could appreciate that a request from a hotel room at that hour might be risky. I keep wondering why the LMT did not report the incident to the massage board. That would protect her, other workers, and her license. Whatever next step the board took or recommended she take would be rational and considered. LMTs are taught to leave the client alone to dress after the appointment. Even if there’s significant DNA, there’s no way to prove when or how it got wherever it was. The strict licensing requirements in Oregon are intended to prohibit abuse by either the LMT or the client. It does not sound as if this LMT was protecting herself in any kind of rational way. If the reports are true that she earned $540 for three hours, that’s an extravagant amount by industry standards in Oregon. Additionally, many hotels offer these services in a structured way to protect the workers and the clients.