Accused of harassing fiancée, King County Assessor calls resignation push ‘well-orchestrated’ collusion

King County Assessor John Wilson is pushing back against renewed calls from several public figures urging him to resign as he campaigns for King County Executive. 

Past accusations of stalking and harassing his former fiancée, Lee Keller, have resurfaced, spurring the calls for his dismissal as assessor. King County Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay and Claudia Balducci, also running for the position of King County Executive, have spearheaded the movement for his dismissal.

“They have no legal authority,” Wilson said on “The Jake and Spike Show.” “The only two ways you can remove the assessor or an elected county official are either by a recall petition that is approved by the court and then put to the voters, or when I stand for re-election again.”

The ongoing legal battle has put Wilson under increasing public scrutiny. Earlier, the King County Council passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in Wilson’s leadership.

“There has been absolutely no investigation done of this whatsoever,” Wilson said. “Balducci rushed to file a motion calling for my resignation without having a shred of evidence.”

The council struck down the motion earlier this month, but Balducci indicated she may reintroduce it. Wilson additionally filed an ethics complaint with King County against Balducci,

“Balducci and Zahilay are members of the Washington State Bar Association. They are attorneys,” Wilson said. “And what you’ve seen is both of them violated the county ethics code of the Bar Association. And they should have both recused themselves, but instead, they were both knee deep in this thing, and Balducci knows better than that.

“They love to march and rail against the Trump administration, but when it comes to something where they can act with complete political expediency, they toss due process, the presumption of innocence, and the rule of law out the door,” Wilson added. “If those are the kind of people we’re going to elect as county executive, heaven help us.”

Wilson previously called this movement “a new low point for county politics” in a Facebook post.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said he was “appalled by the stories of County Assessor Wilson’s conduct” late last month. Wilson alleged that Harrell and Balducci are orchestrating the vote of no confidence as a simple measure to prevent him from being elected.

“Both Bruce Harrell and Claudia Balducci are using the same political consultant,” Wilson said. “What this smacks of is that this call for resignation was also well orchestrated, in that there is collusion between all these various courthouse players to try to see if they couldn’t drive me out.”

Two restraining orders against Wilson in last 12 months

Keller filed a temporary restraining order against Wilson last month. She previously filed one in May 2024. 

“The restraining order against John Wilson remains in place,” Keller told KIRO Newsradio last week. “I will not be changing my mind, despite his repeated efforts to coerce me to dismiss it.”

A hearing on the restraining order is scheduled for June 30.

“This is the third time that she has taken some action like this, and each and every time she has withdrawn it before it ever went to court,” Wilson said on “The Jake And Spike Show.” 

Wilson claimed he and Keller had lunch and a “very cordial conversation” 10 days after the most recent restraining order was filed.

“Ten days after it, but it was four days after she had said and told a mutual friend of ours, ‘I made a terrible mistake. I’m so sorry. I’m having it dismissed,'” Wilson said. “Then she changed her mind yet again over that weekend.”

Wilson additionally asserted that not only is the alleged abuse untrue, but he was a victim of Keller acting abusively towards him. He claims that Keller recently shoved him after he mentioned the name of a man she allegedly had an affair with while they were together. 

“I filed a police report with the Sammamish police,” Wilson said. “They investigated it. I asked them not to arrest her, but I said clearly, she was so volatile that evening that she actually had turned physically and assaulted me.

“What also happened here, and part of the facts is, when she started to go south was when she asked me, after we had seen each other on the evening of (May) 21, the morning of (May) 26, there is text from her saying, ‘Hey, I wonder, this is a little awkward, but could you help me pay my rent?'”

Wilson alleged she was asking for approximately $6,000.

“Did you pay that?” Jake asked. “Did you give her the money?”

“No,” Wilson replied. “But, over the course of the last 2.5 years, I have helped her financially to the tune of more than $250,000.”

The primary election for King County executive is in August.

“You’re not going to step down,” KIRO host Jake Skorheim said. “It sounds like you’re going to keep running for this position.”

“Yeah, my name is on the ballot,” Wilson confirmed. “And frankly, I know in my heart, I know that the facts, not the allegations, the facts will clear up that I did nothing to put her in danger. That I did not stalk her in some way. That she was in fear of life. That I was abusive to her, just the opposite.”

KIRO Newsradio reached out to Keller’s attorneys for additional comment.

Listen to the full interview here.

Contributing: Frank Sumrall and Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest

Listen to “The Jake and Spike Show” weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @http://twitter.com/Mynorthwest