April 25, 2012 05:30 PM UTC

"Nonpartisan Watchdog" Caught on Tape Getting Awfully Partisan

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• by: Colorado Pols

We’ve talked a few times recently about a new “nonpartisan” government ethics watchdog group that seems to be operating as an unusually overt hit squad in the service of Republican partisan politics. The so-called Open Government Institute of Colorado earned press back in March from a complaint they filed against a former Democratic lobbyist.

The fact is, that complaint was not wholly without merit, but the manner in which is was picked up and hyped out of all earthly proportion by the usual-suspect network of conservative blogs and “news sites” demonstrated its true purpose and origins unmistakably. It later came out that the “nonpartisan” OGI in fact shares office space with the arch-conservative Independence Institute, and that its staff includes the now-interim head of the Denver Republican Party Michelle Lyng in addition to longtime Independence Institute cadre Jessica Peck.

Well folks, we were forwarded a video clip from last Friday’s luncheon of the Colorado Republican Business Coalition, attended by Rep. Mike Coffman among others, where Ms. Peck delivered a “political update” in her official capacity as Executive Director of OGI. Let’s be really crystal-clear about that detail:

We’re guessing Ms. Peck didn’t realize she was on camera.

JESSICA PECK: And Congressman Coffman, we’re working on some things that may, in a very non-partisan way, benefit you in your endeavors in November, [Pols emphasis] so I’ll talk a little bit about that. So, I come here as a partisan Republican…

So, um, we would say at the very least, this is going to make the current self-description of the OGI difficult to report by journalists with a straight face. Can you imagine the outcry if the “left-leaning” Colorado Ethics Watch was caught on tape doing this? We’re not election law experts, so we’ll leave it to others to sort out if this briefing of a political candidate whom a “nonpartisan” nonprofit’s work may “benefit in November” constitutes a violation of law.

As for any remaining veneer of “nonpartisan” believability, we’ve got to call that ship sailed.