Wednesday night the Portland Police Bureau announced it is re-opening an investigation into allegations that Al Gore sexually assaulted a massage therapist in 2006, following the public revelation of the accusation last week by the National Enquirer.
The police had declined to pursue an investigation after interviewing the woman for the first time in 2009, citing insufficient evidence.
Meanwhile, the previously unnamed in the woman case identified herself in an on-the-record interview with the Enquirer as Molly Hagerty, 54.
And Gore’s spokeswoman, who previously declined to comment, last night issued this statement flatly denying the allegations and, notably, deriding the matter as a “story generated by tabloids”:
Further investigation into this matter will only benefit Mr. Gore. The Gores cannot comment on every defamatory, misleading, and inaccurate story generated by tabloids. Mr. Gore unequivocally and emphatically denied this accusation when he first learned of its existence three years ago. He stands by that denial.
The new Enquirer story with Hagerty also includes an interview with a friend of hers, Greg Boatman, who says she called him hours after the alleged assault in 2006. The Oregonian also spoke with Boatman:
Boatman, 52, of Portland said in an interview with The Oregonian that Hagerty called him about 4 a.m. Oct. 24, 2006. “She was distraught. She was crying. She told me the story of the assault,” Boatman said. “The statement she gave to the police — I heard all of it.”
