EPHRATA, WA. -- Over the last five months, KREM 2 News has been investigating allegations against the Grant County Prosecutor, Angus Lee, claimed by two former co-workers and some of his political enemies.
The allegations against Lee range from ethical violations to abuse of power. Lee denies those claims, and is right now fighting for re-election.
Lee has been Grant County Prosecutor since January, 2009, first by appointment, and then in November after a tight election.
The whole time, critics have lobbed shots at him, and he's fired back.
Lee used to be the boss of former Grant County Prosecutors Teddy Chow and Albert Lin. They now want him out of office.
Chow told KREM 2 News Lee is "a vindictive person." Lin said Lee "should not have a license to practice bar."
Lee is currently up for re-election, and has been under investigation by the state bar association since December, 2009.
"I'm of the opinion that he's definitely in trouble with the bar association," said Chow. "I'm also of the opinion that he's a liar."
"This is really a serious issue about an ethical lapse by a prosecuting attorney who abuses his authority and tries to do certain things that are ethically just not right," said Lin.
Lin was Lee's rival in the last prosecutor's race, and one month after our interview, Lin said he was running again.
The accusations against Lee are complex and wide-ranging.
Broadly, Lee is accused in a bar complaint of lying -- saying he did not know District Court Judge Richard Fitterer was pulled over for a hit-and-run, but he did.
"He had to have known, we told him," Chow told KREM 2 News. "All three of us told him what happened. And when we told him what happened, he wasn't surprised."
The bar has received phone records that show Lee called the investigating officer two hours after the judge was pulled over, allegedly to get him not to write a report.
Lying to the bar could cause Lee to lose his license to practice law.
In addition, documents show the bar has expanded its inquiry to include Lee's request to have Lin prosecute one of his friends and former co-workers.
The bar could not comment on this case.
"If I were to have done what he asked me and directed that I do, that could cause me to lose my license," said Lin.
There is also Quincy Police officer Aaron Doyle. He was the first responder to the Judge Fitterer hit-and-run. He's a witness in the first bar complaint.
Doyle also recently filed a bar complaint against Lee. Doyle was up for County Coroner. But Lee got his hands on a sealed file stolen from Doyle's home. Doyle says Lee told him that sealed file would be made public, unless he dropped out.
"It's unethical, it's underhanded, it's inappropriate, it's unprofessional," Doyle told KREM 2 News. "It's an abuse of authority."
KREM 2 News tried several times to speak with Lee on camera. He declined, responding with two emails and documents sent by his attorney to the bar.
Lee fired back with bar complaints of his own against Lin, Chow and three other attorneys. He accuses them of serious violations including the release of misleading or confidential information, citing two independent reports.
On the issue of conflict of interest, Lee's attorney points out that in Washington, prosecutors are "neither expected to nor required to be impartial."
The bar dismissed Lee's claims.
Lee has repeatedly denied knowing about Judge Fitterer's incident. But under more questioning by the bar, he acknowledges being told about the situation, but says he never got an actual case until several months later.
In its response to the complaint against Chow, the bar told Lee, "from your own investigator's report, it does not appear accurate to say that you 'never received any information of any kind' about the June incident. You knew about the incident the same day it happened."
"He is out to violate people's rights," said Chow. "He'll prosecute people he perceives as personal enemies."
Doyle refused to answer questions about Judge Fitterer's traffic stop.
Lin has filed a $2.9 million tort claim against Lee and Grant County. He and Chow also filed whistle-blower complaints they say have not been addressed.
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