SALEM (AP) - Gov. Ted Kulongoski, in a formal response to a complaint filed against him with the Oregon State Bar, reiterated his claim that he didn’t know former Gov. Neil Goldschmidt had sex with a 14-year-old girl until Goldschmidt confessed to it in 2004.

The bar complaint, filed last month by Portland radio talk show host Lars Larson, claims Kulongoski has lied to the public about what he knew about Goldschmidt.

The complaint is based on the word of Fred Leonhardt, a former Goldschmidt speechwriter who said he gave the information to Kulongoski in the early 1990s — more than a decade after Goldschmidt abused the girl.

Kulongoski, according to the response, “recalls that he once heard a rumor from Fred Leonhardt — but he does not recall when — about Neil Goldschmidt and a child. Kulongoski understood that rumor to be that Neil Goldschmidt had fathered an illegitimate child.”

It’s essentially the same story the governor has been telling since 2004, when Leonhardt first went public with his claims.

Leonhardt has denied even hearing a rumor about an illegitimate child.

“This is a complete and total fabrication,” Leonhardt said Wednesday. “I cannot believe he brought that up again. Why would I have told my good friend about an illegitimate child, but not about the far more serious statutory rape”

The bar is reviewing the complaint and could decide to move to a more formal investigation. It’s unclear when a decision might be expected.

Leonhardt says he heard about the abuse from Bernie Giusto, who was Goldschmidt’s bodyguard and driver in the late 1980s and is now Multnomah County sheriff.

Giusto is now under investigation by the state Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, which is looking into whether he lied about his knowledge of Goldschmidt’s abuse.

Goldschmidt, who had sex with the girl when he was mayor of Portland, was governor from 1987 to 1991.