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June 05, 2020 07:14 PM UTC

Two Out Of Ninety-Seven Ain't Bad?

  • 15 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Former House Speaker Frank McNulty.

As Denver7’s Blair Miller reports, the wild and mostly meritless ride of a complaint before the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission against former Gov. John Hickenlooper ended late Friday, with two findings that Hickenlooper violated the state’s gift ban imposed under the 2006 ethics reform law known as Amendment 41:

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission on Friday found that former Gov. John Hickenlooper violated the state’s gift ban in two of six instances that were alleged and continued on from ethics complaints made by a former Republican House speaker in October 2018.

The five-member commission found that Hickenlooper, currently one of two Democrats vying for the U.S. Senate nomination to face Sen. Cory Gardner in November, violated the gift ban in Amendment 41 when he flew on a private plane and went to private dinners on a trip to Connecticut for the commissioning of the USS Colorado and when he accepted transportation, meals and other things during a trip to the Bilderberg meeting in Italy…

But the commissioners found that Hickenlooper did not violate state law in the other four instances – regarding a plane ride back to Colorado with a friend after a meeting and getting his wife out of the hospital, a plane ride back from Texas for officiating Kimbal Musk’s wedding, a trip from Washington D.C. to Jackson Hole, Wyo. On his chief of staff’s plane, nor another plane ride on his chief of staff’s plane from Washington D.C. to Centennial in which they discussed the transition plans.

So ends what we expect will be the biggest fishing expedition of the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Colorado, with a complaint filed by Republican usual suspects that began with nearly 100 supposed allegations boiling down to two instances in which Hickenlooper should have reimbursed a benefactor for travel expenses according to the IEC. One of these benefactors happens to be Larry Mizel, a Republican megadonor and supporter of Hickenlooper’s presumed general election opponent Sen. Cory Gardner. Mizel flew Hickenlooper to the commissioning of the U.S.S. Colorado in Connecticut, certainly a justifiable trip for the governor of Colorado however it was paid for. As for the Bilderberg conference, talk radio will indulge itself with the conspiracy fodder, but it’s hard for us to see nefariousness in confusion over expenses that most of that conference’s attendees don’t have to justify to anyone.

The headline is of course not great for Hickenlooper, and it can be argued that yesterday’s reluctance to testify via a malfunctioning WebEx didn’t end up helping Hickenlooper optically. If we were Hickenlooper, now would be the time to thank the IEC for sorting all of this out, write a check to cover the expenses incurred, and move on. That would stand in favorable contrast to former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, who burned through hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars unsuccessfully defending himself from the much more serious charge of misusing his office’s discretionary funds.

In the fall, when the referendum dominating the attention of voters is on the ethics of the Trump administration and of Republican enablers of Trump like Sen. Cory Gardner, these travel expenses aren’t going to close an eighteen-point deficit. If this is the worst Hick faces between now and November, it’s not going to be enough to stop the wave.

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15 thoughts on “Two Out Of Ninety-Seven Ain’t Bad?”

  2. Seems to me that the trip with Mizel, at least, should have been reimbursed by the state of Colorado if reimbursement was called for under the law since he was on official state business. Don't know why he went to Bilderburg, but likewise if the trip there was to drum up business for Colorado, especially if he can show he was successful. 

    1. But how do you value a ride in a Maserati Quattroporte, a luxury limousine? 

      Is it more or less than drinking Krug Champagne in Palm Springs, FL, at a party hosted by a French company owned by a multinational conglomerate of luxury brands called LVMH?

      Looking forward to the fall election, I guess, when important questions like this will no doubt be part of the outside money "uncoordinated with the campaigns" advertising.

      1. Seems to me that the trip with Mizel, at least, should have been reimbursed by the state of Colorado if reimbursement was called for under the law since he was on official state business.

        Just as soon as Colorado adopts Mizel’s jet and limo as authorized modes of transportation for its official business . . .

          1. It was for the commissioning of the USS Colorado which Wiki says happened in March, 2018.  That would make it eight months before the last gubernatorial election and fourteen months after *rump was inaugurated.  Everyone knew by then that Trump was toxic and that Mizel was a high-profile fundraiser for the madman.  Earlier this spring Mizel planned a $100k/couple fundraiser for Gardner (which I think was punted on for COVID-related problems).  

            Doesn’t seem like the kind of operative I’d want to be jetting around with if I was trying to sell a progressive agenda in the next election cycle. 

  3. Think you let Hick off too lightly.  What he displayed is a cavalier attitude towards both ethics and the ethics commission.  Too bad you and Chuck Schumer have put all your eggs in this basket.  

    On so many levels Hickenlooper is a big disappointment.  Ask the Senators who he didn't help in their recall efforts just how loyal he is to Democrats and the Democratic causes. 

    1. The headline is a bit misleading, as well. It was 2 out of 6. As I understand it, about 91 of the charges weren't even considered, because of limitations. Had they considered them all, the percentages say it would have been 32 out of 97. Would that be, ain't bad? 

      Maybe I figure it wrong somehow. Just the same, the casual air of entitlement is something Johns' ego could never contain.

  4. I can see it now:

    Cory's acolytes attacking JH over these two minor ethical violations.

    Cory's acolytes defending to the death Cory's support of the biggest grifter ever to sully the White House.

    Yawn.

  5. So, our InnerTubes® went out this afternoon and for the first time in 5+ years I watch local news (Channel 7).

    1. Saw an Andrew ad, He looked like crap (or, as my wife put it, a prison escapee). I always mute commercials so I had no idea what he said.

    2. No drug ads. I always thought that every other ad on TV was for drugs. I mean, who buys tires when there are drugs to be consumed?

    3. What is with sports reporting? Why bother? Why not just fire all the sports reporters? Again, on mute, so no idea what they babble about.

    4. Hick's ad was much better. Better lighting. More folksy. Muted.

    5.Hopefully another 5 years will pass before I watch local TV again.

    1. For superb entertainment, come watch Grand Junction's teevee stations. All newbies fresh out of school dreaming of network employment someday.

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