aaron reardon
Snohomish County executive Aaron Reardon confirms that members of his staff were behind a plan to smear his political enemies, but he said he had no idea it was happening. (Image courtesy Facebook - Aaron Reardon)

Snohomish County Executive admits political attacks came from his staff

BY Chris Sullivan  on February 15, 2013 @ 5:22 am (Updated: 11:56 am - 2/15/13 )

Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon confirms that members of his staff were behind a plan to smear his political enemies, but he said he had no idea it was happening.

Reardon's statement released Thursday night said legislative analyst Kevin Hulten apologized to Reardon for any distraction or embarrassment caused by an article in The Daily Herald. The story in the paper Thursday said the requests for emails, phone logs and other records targeted nearly 20 county employees and a private citizen seeking Reardon's recall.

Reardon's statement said Hulten's actions were his own and not at Reardon's direction.

The County Council says the admission is not enough, and it wants a full recounting of what happened. At least one member is working with the prosecutor's office.

A phone message seeking comment from Reardon and Hulten for this story was left Friday at Reardon's office and spokesman Christopher Schwarzen called back to say he was working on a response.

Aliases and various identities were created for records requests, The Daily Herald reported in Thursday's story. Anonymous Web pages, fake Twitter accounts and spoof email addresses were used to undermine Reardon critics. Couriers with money orders picked up records, so the person behind the request never had to show his face.

The record requests began during Reardon's re-election campaign in 2011 and appeared to be an attempt to dig up dirt on opponent Mike Hope. Reardon won a third term.

The campaign continued during a Washington State Patrol investigation into accusations that Reardon used country resources on his campaign and an affair. He was not charged.

In his statement, Reardon said he met with Hulten and Jon Rudicil, Reardon's staff assistant.

"Mr. Hulten apologized to me for any distraction and embarrassment caused by the article which ran in the Everett Herald suggesting that his outside and personal activities occurred at my direction. He informed me that his actions are private and did not interfere with his official responsibilities at the county. His motivations were his own. Any suggestion to the contrary is untrue. All county staff members have the same rights as any other citizen to request and review public documents _ and they frequently do. The requests referenced in today's media account are for documents that are routinely requested of public officials by members of the public and/or the media," the statement said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Chris Sullivan, KIRO Radio Reporter
Chris loves the rush of covering breaking news and works hard to try to make sense of it all while telling stories about real people in extraordinary circumstances.
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Comments (23)


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  • CH wrote...
    Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon
    February 15, 2013 6:28 am
    is this the guy that was banging someone on the taxpayer time?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • William P wrote...
    YEP
    February 15, 2013 8:37 am
    Also, vehemently denied that was the case. County issued cell phone records state otherwise. Took the gal friend to a convention in Chicago although no one can remember seeing him after checking into the hotel. Next job will probably be with ACORN.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • mnpat wrote...
    Yup, Reardon is such an angel......
    February 15, 2013 6:30 am
    And surrounds himself with saints...politics as usual.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cash wrote...
    Why
    February 15, 2013 6:42 am
    Is this guy still in office???
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Reardon, you're a real piece of s.hit
    February 15, 2013 6:47 am
    and you belong in prison.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Fuego wrote...
    You're often
    February 15, 2013 7:52 am
    judged by the company you keep.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    By the way Chris Sullivan, you forgot to mention that Reardon is a DEMOCRAT!
    February 15, 2013 7:58 am
    A tiny detail that would no doubt be in the headline and listed at least twice in the article if he was republican. Mynw.com isn't bias or anything though.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • TwoTrees wrote...
    This.
    February 15, 2013 8:02 am
    tt.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • newsguysully wrote...
    Watch yourself shark
    February 15, 2013 8:08 am
    You have no idea what my politics are. You'd probably be surprised. The mentioning of his party was an oversight. I assumed everyone knew his party affiliation. I will add to the story.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    You're right, I don't
    February 15, 2013 8:15 am
    Just seems to be a pattern sometimes, not with you in particular but with Mynw.com and KIRO. Thanks for owning up!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • newsguysully wrote...
    If I'm not fair or accurate, I'm nothing.
    February 15, 2013 8:28 am
    I've made the addition to the script.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Thanks Sully
    February 15, 2013 8:38 am
    Your a stand up journalist!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • RobertK wrote...
    Thanks
    February 15, 2013 9:30 am
    Thanks for your attention to this point. It is very bothersome to Republican's who routinely see the political affiliations of Republican's mentioned more than the person's name while you have to have JZ Knight or some other charlatan try and dowse the political affiliation in a story of a Democrat accused of the same type of fault. Now that has been pointed out to you, just watch the stories on say...Jesse Jackson, Jr, and see how many times you see the word Democrat associated with this character.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Just another dirty DimoRat politician.
    February 15, 2013 8:05 am
    But he learned it all from watching Owebama and Holder.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Pair o'dimes wrote...
    Just another human
    February 15, 2013 9:12 am
    Any unbiased observer will realize that lying, cheating and other human failures crosses all party boundaries. This is why I never vote based on party affiliation. Unfortunately, it doesn't make it any easier to figure out who the liars are, since they are all moving their lips.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • monkeyal wrote...
    Put Reardon
    February 15, 2013 2:38 pm
    under oath and ask him some questions. All dead fish rot from the head downward. Does anyone believe he did not know what Kevin Hulten was doing?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    You mean like Slick Willie?
    February 15, 2013 4:34 pm
    ....that depends on what your definition of "is" is...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • rational wrote...
    Internet Rule 43
    February 15, 2013 5:23 pm
    Internet rule 43 states that if an article about a politician doing something bad doesn't mention his party affiliation then he must be a democrat. Worked in this case as well. Nice bias from the AP in hiding the democrat party affiliation.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    This is total Democrat Behavior
    February 15, 2013 6:56 pm
    Even when you're caught red handed being a dooooschbag, you st
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • maplefish wrote...
    Continued...
    February 15, 2013 7:00 pm
    Still go after anyone who wanted justice....Reardon and his staff epitomize the chickenshit, pathetic, unscrupulous, lameass tactics of the Left....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }