Federal investigators on Friday served a criminal subpoena on the Oregon Department of Administrative Services for records relating to Gov. John Kitzhaber, his fiancee Cylvia Hayes and other state officials.
The FBI said little about the investigation.
The subpoenas seek records from 11 state agencies, including emails, phone logs and documents related to the consulting contracts of the governor's fiancee, Cylvia Hayes. The subpoenas were issued over the signature of U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall.
The state is required to submit the records to a federal grand jury by March 10, according to the subpoena.
"We received the subpoena this afternoon and will cooperate fully -- providing any of the information listed that is in our possession," said Matt Shelby, spokesman for DAS.
The mounting scandal over those contracts, which paid Hayes at least $213,000 since 2011, prompted Kitzhaber to resign Friday. The subpoena seeks information concerning Hayes' clients and partners including Demos, Resource Media, Energy Foundation, Rural Development Initiatives, Clean Economy Development Center, Waste to Energy and the Oregon Business Council.
The state Justice Department, which announced its own criminal investigation a week ago, declined to comment on the federal subpoenas.
The FBI, which is apparently leading the investigation, issued a statement Friday.
"The FBI does not make comments regarding on-going criminal investigations," Beth Anne Steele, FBI spokeswoman, said in a written statement to The Oregonian/OregonLive Friday.
Steele explained the FBI's role in public corruption cases without specifically addressing the Kitzhaber matter.
"Public corruption investigations are the FBI's number one priority because such allegations, if proven true, strike at the very core of our government's ability to serve the people of this state and this country," the statement said.
The FBI statement noted that "these types of investigations can and oftentimes are worked in coordination with other federal and state partners who may have some concurrent jurisdiction."
Such investigations, the statement said, must conducted "out of the public eye to ensure a fair process that doesn't impact a person's reputation."
Willamette Week originally reported that the subpoenas had been served to DAS.
Earlier in the day, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said her criminal investigation of Kitzhaber and his fiancee will go forward despite his intentions to resign.
"Oregonians deserve nothing less than a full and fair investigation of all the facts," Rosenblum said in a statement.
She opened her investigation a week ago.
Her investigation brought to a halt a preliminary review already underway by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. The commission by law must suspend its work while a criminal investigation is underway.
That ethics inquiry could resume later, and it is not foreclosed by Kitzhaber's resignation.
-- Les Zaitz and Laura Gunderson