“I'm not sure he can ever get back my loyalty,” Commissioner Randy Leonard told KGW. “What happened though, is Sam asking me to take something at his word or giving me all the information to reach a different conclusion or benefit of the doubt ... I can't do that. “Sam's silence to me is deafening.  His complete absence from the building is telling.”

--Randy Leonard Friday 1/23/2009

 

"As you have probably seen in the media, I have been the target of a nasty smear by a would-be political opponent. I will not dignify the substance of this smear by repeating it - if you read the accounts you will see there is no foundation to it. The reason is simple: it is untrue...

...I didn't get into public life to allow my instinct to help others to be snuffed out by fear of sleazy misrepresentations or political manipulation. I understand the need for good judgment, and I keep within the bounds of propriety -- as I did in this case."

--Sam Adams "Open Letter to Portlanders"  circa 9/18/2007

 

"I was lying to seek office. . . . I didn't think people would believe me, just as people have trouble believing me now."

--Sam Adams to the Oregonian Editorial Board, reported on Sunday 1/25/2009

 

 

...[Sam] had never had sex with the teenager in question, he said calmly, sounding a touch saddened and weary that the charge would be made. But even though his staff had warned him about the dangers of appearances, he felt deeply that he had a responsibility, as "one of the best-known gay people in Oregon," to counsel people troubled by sexuality issues, and even though this was the first time he had mentored a teenager, he would not turn away gay young people, a group with unusually high rates of suicide...But rarely does a politician manage [lying] with such a sense of injured nobility, of social commitment not to be deterred by low-minded slanders, as Sam Adams managed that afternoon in his office. No doubt the stakes involved bolstered his performance: