Judge Kallas refuses to allow Dino Rossi to postpone deposition

This morning, King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas denied a request by Dino Rossi and his attorneys to postpone Rossi's deposition in the Buildergate investigation to next Monday, November 3rd - the last business day before the 2008 general election is scheduled to take place.

The ruling means that Rossi must show up tomorrow morning to testify... or he will be in contempt of court. The deposition will begin at 10 AM at the offices of Rossi's lawyer and last until 3 PM with a one hour break from noon to 1 PM.

The media will not be allowed to observe the deposition, the judge has ruled, upholding an objection by Rossi's lawyers. However, partial transcripts of the deposition will be made available almost immediately afterwards,

Attorney Mike Withey, who represents the plaintiffs (retired Justices Robert Utter and Faith Ireland) said of the ruling:

This order, as with the prior orders of Judge Kallas, upholds a central purpose of the campaign finance laws that were passed many years ago by the people of this State: that the voters should have the right to know who is financing campaigns and what the sources of millions in campaign funding is. It's a day of reckoning for Dino Rossi.

We commend the Court for refusing to allow Dino Rossi to obfuscate and delay this investigation. Buildergate is a very serious matter. The people of Washington State deserve nothing less than a complete and truthful account of Dino Rossi's involvement in this scandal.