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November 09, 2015 08:43 AM UTC

Lundberg may try to subpoena witnesses who declined to answer questions at today's hearing

  • 14 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

(Wombghazi! – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R).
Sen. Kevin Lundberg (R).

With witnesses from across the political spectrum refusing to participate in today’s “informational hearing” on alleged sales of fetal-tissue for research purposes, Sen. Kevin Lundberg may request authority to subpoena witnesses for legislative hearings next year.

“I can go to the Senate and seek permission to have that authority for any specific issue,” said Lundberg, who’s the Senate Republican Assistant Majority Leader, on KLZ 560-AM Thursday (at  18:45 below). “And this may rise to that occasion.”

“I have never seen subpoena powers granted to a [Colorado legislative] committee, but it’s within the rules,” said Lundberg on air, citing his position as chair of the Senate Health & Human Services Committee, which would have jurisdiction on this matter.

Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado State University, Planned Parenthood, and the University of Colorado have refused to attend today’s 9 a.m. hearing at the state capitol to answer  questions from Lundberg and 20 other conservative state lawmakers, Lundberg told KLZ morning host Steve Curtis.

If they refuse to testify again next year, Lundberg said, he’ll consider seeking subpoena power from his Senate colleagues, who hold a majority.

“I haven’t ruled that out at all,” he told Curtis, adding that it will depend on what information is uncovered at today’s hearing. Lundberg believes, for example, that if fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood were used in scientific research at Colorado Universities, it would violate Colorado’s ban on indirect funding of abortion. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains maintains that it has no fetal-tissue donation program.

For background on CSU and CU’s fetal-tissue programs see here and here.

Witnesses who have agreed to answer questions today, including a representative of the anti-choice Alliance Defending Freedom, appear to share the conservative leanings of Lundberg and others on the Republican Study Committee of Colorado, which is conducting the informational hearing.

The Grand Junction Sentinel described the group as “made up of 21 of the most conservative Republican representatives and senators in the Colorado Legislature.”

“This is a ridiculous waste of taxpayers’ dollars and recourses. (Planned Parenthood) does not have a fetal tissue donation program, and the basis of the (committee’s) entire study is in sham videos that have been debunked repeatedly here and nationally,” Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains told the Grand Junction Sentinel last month.

“If we don’t get answers at the hearing on Monday down at the Capitol, I’ll turn this information over the appropriate legislative committees of reference and see if they can sort it out,” Lundberg told KLZ.

Comments

14 thoughts on “Lundberg may try to subpoena witnesses who declined to answer questions at today’s hearing

  1. When your own party's crazy attorney general won't attend your crazy hearing on crazy fetusblargle, your crazy train may have jumped the crazy tracks and be headed over the crazy cliff.

          1. After initially declining. And you still haven’t apologized so I’m being really really nice here. Here’s what said rep was there for. Just scroll down and you’ll see that….

            He said the AG's office did not have jurisdiction to investigate.

             

      1. Why do elected lawmakers make a bunch of hooey about doctored videos showing gun makers laughing about how much money they are making off of suicides of poor whites?  When are they going to investigate something that can be used as evidence in a court of law to stop the murder of these innocent souls?  Oh wait that's not the bullshit phony, Benghazi like waste of money you are talking about is it gun worshipper?

      2. I suppose if it was actually a legislative committee instead of the RWNJ caucus, you might have a point.  But since it is just the RWNJ caucus, no one owes them anything.

  2. UPDATE: An attorney from AG Coffman's office decided at the last minute to attend the event, letting Lundberg know 45 minutes before he arrived. He said the AG's office did not have jusisdiction to investigate. The Durango Herald's Peter Marcus tweeted that the legislature's nonpartisan legislative legal services office also declined an invitation to attend. 

  3. I hope the next time Lundberg is in contact with law enforcement, they throw him in a holding cell for 23 hours before releasing him with no charges, because technically it's allowable.

    What a dumbass.

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