After standing trial for theft and money-laundering charges, State Auditor Troy Kelley went back to work. The day after his federal trial concluded, Kelley asked for the resignation of both his chief of staff and spokesman. He also placed former spokesman on administrative leave.
When asked why by the fired employee, Kelley claimed that it was “for the good of the organization.”
Kelley declined to comment on the firings to the media.
Jay Inslee also asked Kelley to explain the reason for the firings. Kelley has yet to respond.
The audacity of Kelley is truly astonishing. Apparently, the disgraced Democrat has yet to realize that a jury of his peers did not actually acquit him of theft and money-laundering charges.
Federal prosecutors have not ruled out the possibility of a re-trial.
So, if Kelley were concerned about the “good of the organization,” he would — at long last — step down.
Of course, he won’t. Kelley does not really care that he has lost the public’s trust and disgraced an office that demands respect.
And, Inslee will not call for him to resign — that won’t do anything to help the reputation of Democrats in Washington State. Given the fact that it is an election year and Kelley is, after all, a Democrat, Inslee won’t do anything to attract more public attention to an embarrassing situation.
“The audacity of Shift is truly astonishing. Apparently, the hyper-partisan web site has yet to realize that a jury did not actually convict Kelley of anything, and did actually acquit him of making a false statement.”
Fixed that for you. You’re welcome.
Meanwhile, I hope the employees he just fired have union representation, to help them get their jobs back.
Of 15 charges, Kelley was acquitted of ONE. See Seattle Times, 4/24/16.
Uh, yes, that’s what I wrote. Zero convictions, one acquittal. He’s not been proven guilty of anything which the prosecutin accused him of doing. Zero, zilch, zip, nada, bupkis.
(Or is it the whole “presumed innocent unless PROVEN guilty” part you’re having trouble understanding? ‘Cause that easy and obvious concept has left Shift spluttering helplessly with incomprehension.)
I’m not a Kelly fan by any means but “innocent until proven guilty ” still means something even in this case. So maybe Shift should back off a bit and let him continue to show his true colors.
What have the taxpayers of this state received for four years of giving this man over $100k a year?
In a word… NOTHING!