New website, WhatsValHiding.com, documents corruption

DeSpain Launches WhatsValHiding.com, Documenting Incumbent Hoyle’s Record Of Corruption, Gross Incompetence, Federal Investigation, And Stock Act Violations

New Website Compiles Full Timeline of Hoyle’s Pay-to-Play Scheme, DOJ Investigation, 217 Hidden Stock Trades, Role in BOLI Crisis, and Personal Wealth Explosion — Voters Invited to Sign Petition Calling for Federal Accountability
By Monique DeSpain for Congress,
Press release,

EUGENE, Oregon (April 23, 2026) — Today, Oregon Fourth Congressional District candidate Monique DeSpain, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel and JAG Corps attorney, launched WhatsValHiding.com — a comprehensive, documented timeline of incumbent Congresswoman Val Hoyle’s record of corruption, obstruction of public records, violation of federal transparency law, and abuse of the public trust.

“Val Hoyle has had every opportunity to come clean with the people of this district, and she has chosen, again and again, to hide, deny, and stonewall,” said DeSpain. “As a JAG officer and private sector lawyer, I built cases on evidence. The evidence here is damning. Voters deserve to see it all in one place — and now they can.”

STOCK ACT VIOLATIONS: 217 HIDDEN TRADES, INCLUDING DEFENSE CONTRACTORS

In September 2025, the nonpartisan watchdog organization OpenSecrets revealed that Hoyle had violated the federal STOCK Act — a financial transparency and conflicts-of-interest law — for a second time that month. Hoyle was weeks or months late in disclosing 217 individual stock trades with a combined value of up to $3.4 million. Those trades included defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman — companies in industries that fall under the direct jurisdiction of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which Hoyle serves.

The STOCK Act requires federal lawmakers to publicly disclose any individual stock, bond, or cryptocurrency trade within 45 days of making it. Hoyle’s office paid a $200 fine — the minimum penalty for a first-time violation — and claimed Hoyle was unaware of the transactions. Meanwhile, her personal wealth has grown by more than 400 percent since taking office.

The hypocrisy is striking: Hoyle is a co-sponsor of the Stop Politicians Profiting from War Act of 2025, legislation that would ban federal lawmakers from owning defense industry stocks — the very stocks she failed to disclose. “She lectures voters about financial transparency while hiding hundreds of stock trades. This is exactly the pattern of behavior the voters of the Fourth District deserve to know about,” said DeSpain.

THE LA MOTA PAY-TO-PLAY SCHEME AND FEDERAL INVESTIGATION

While serving as Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) Commissioner, Hoyle accepted more than $20,000 in campaign contributions from La Mota cannabis executives — some delivered in cash in violation of federal campaign finance law — while simultaneously texting those executives from her personal cell phone during the very meetings in which their grant application was being considered. Email records show Hoyle was the “key organizer” in ensuring BOLI awarded La Mota’s nonprofit, ENDVR, a grant exceeding $554,000 — the largest single grant awarded in that funding round — despite La Mota owing hundreds of thousands in unpaid taxes and facing dozens of lawsuits from creditors. A 2025 Secretary of State audit concluded that years of “neglect and mismanagement” created a “massive backlog of wage and hour violation claims” and traced its origins directly to the “poor management” by then–BOLI Commissioner Hoyle, who left the agency in a state of “crisis.” La Mota employees had 11 such claims pending before BOLI while Hoyle was assisting La Mota owners with their grant process.

When public records requests followed, Hoyle stonewalled BOLI’s access to her personal cell phone communications for eleven months. BOLI’s own spokesperson acknowledged they would have “no way of knowing” whether all public records had been produced. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently expanded its federal investigation — originally focused on La Mota and former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who resigned in disgrace — to include Hoyle and her role in the grant. The national news outlet The Daily Beast confirmed Hoyle was under federal investigation. Hoyle denied it. The facts said otherwise.

SHUTDOWN VOTE: ONE RULE FOR VAL HOYLE, ANOTHER FOR EVERYONE ELSE

In October 2025, Hoyle voted against keeping the federal government open — a vote that put the jobs, paychecks, and vital services of real Oregonians at risk. Throughout the shutdown, Hoyle continued to collect her taxpayer-funded congressional salary while her personal stock portfolio soared.

VOTERS INVITED TO REVIEW THE FULL RECORD AND SIGN THE PETITION

WhatsValHiding.com provides voters across Lane, Benton, Coos, Curry, Lincoln, and Douglas counties with a sourced, comprehensive timeline of Hoyle’s record — and an opportunity to sign a petition calling on the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure its investigation is complete.

“When you deploy me to Congress, you are sending someone who knows how to follow the evidence and hold the powerful accountable,” said DeSpain. “Val Hoyle has put her connections and her personal wealth above the people of this district. The Fourth District deserves service over politics.”

Note: Video of the press conference is available for broadcast here.