When House Minority Leader Mike Lynch announced earlier this month that he would be running for Congress in CO-04 but would NOT be stepping down from his leadership role in the GOP caucus, we thought this was a pretty poor decision.
When Lynch previewed the 2024 legislative session by promising to continue the Republican strategy from 2023 of pointless obstruction — Republicans took up more than twice the speaking time of Democrats last session — we thought this was a pretty poor decision.
As it turns out, making poor decisions is pretty much what Mike Lynch does.
According to a stunning new story from Nick Coltrain and Seth Klamann of The Denver Post, Lynch somehow managed to hide a very troubling encounter with police for more than 15 months:
[Lynch] was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of drunken driving and possessing a firearm while intoxicated, according to previously unreported law enforcement records.
A Colorado State Patrol report details the arrest of Lynch, a Wellington Republican, on Sept. 30, 2022. He was charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while ability impaired. Lynch was sentenced in February to 18 months of probation, which is still active, with monitored sobriety.
He received a deferred sentence for the weapons charge but was barred from possessing firearms and ordered to complete a handgun safety course.
It seems odd that Lynch would be required to complete a handgun safety class if he is no longer allowed to possess a firearm, but we’re no lawyers. However, you don’t need a law degree to understand that there are a whole bunch of lessons from this story about what NOT to do — not only as a legislator but as a person in general. To wit:
♦ DON’T RACE A POLICE CAR ON THE HIGHWAY!!!
Lynch was pulled over after a trooper paced him driving 90 mph on Interstate 25 north of Fort Collins. According to the incident report, Lynch had initially pulled alongside the trooper in the left lane and roughly matched the trooper’s speed before zooming off.
He said in the interview with The Post that he was on his way back from an event and was simply eager to get home.
Oh, well in that case… [insert eyeroll]
♦ FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON’T PULL OUT A GUN IN FRONT OF A POLICE OFFICER!!!
Trooper Matthew King pulled Lynch over and asked him to step out of the car after he smelled alcohol and noticed Lynch’s eyes were glassy, the report says. Lynch complied. King wrote in the incident report that he saw Lynch had a pocket knife. When the trooper told Lynch that he was going to secure the knife, Lynch told him he also had a gun in his pocket and reached for it.
Lynch began to tell King that he was a supporter of and fought for law enforcement and that the handgun he had was “not a big deal,” the report says. But the trooper “informed him that pulling a gun out of your pocket when in contact with the police was, in fact, a big deal and people get shot that way.” [Pols emphasis]
Hey, man, I totally [hiccup] love you guys!
The next time Lynch pontificates about the second amendment and gun safety, everyone in the room should immediately tell him to STFU.
♦ DON’T TRY TO GET OUT OF A DUI BY MENTIONING THAT YOU ARE AN ELECTED OFFICIAL!!!
Lynch told the trooper he was returning from a fundraiser in Fort Collins and admitted to having a few drinks, “but not a lot.” Lynch then asked the trooper to call a state patrol captain who serves as the agency’s legislative liaison at the Capitol, the report says.
When the trooper indicated that he didn’t know who that person was, Lynch reconsidered and said he didn’t want to call the captain, according to the report. He then told King that he was a state representative, though Lynch didn’t bring up his position further and complied with roadside tests and a breath test. [Pols emphasis]
Lynch said Wednesday that he wasn’t looking for a favor when he mentioned the lobbyist, but he was anxious and wanted to keep people he worked with informed so that they wouldn’t be surprised. He said he also was cognizant then of other situations in which public officials have brought up their status to avoid responsibility — and he didn’t want to fall into that camp.
Yeah, that ship sailed when you mentioned a lobbyist for the state patrol AND told the officer that you were an elected official.
♦ IF YOUR JOB INVOLVES MAKING LAWS, YOU SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH SOME OF THEM!!!
A breath test indicated that Lynch had a blood-alcohol content of about 0.165, according to the report. Lynch told the trooper he thought the legal limit was 0.2 in Colorado, but it is 0.08 — making his reading twice the limit.
Lynch thought the legal limit was 0.2? That might be fine for a water buffalo, but 0.2 is about the point where most people would start to lose consciousness altogether. It’s a minor miracle that Lynch even managed to keep his car on the road with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.165.
The legal and ethical problems facing Lynch after this September 2022 DUI are obvious. From a political perspective, this is a perfect example of the dangers of Republicans running so many races against other Republicans. There will be somewhere in the neighborhood of two dozen Republicans running for the GOP nominations in congressional districts three, four, and five, as well as numerous primaries for state legislative seats. Since the winner of the Republican Primary in these races is all but assured of winning again in the General Election (due to the heavy Republican voter advantage in these districts), other Republicans are going to dig up and dump everything they can find on one another.
Republicans can’t beat Democrats in Colorado, but they damn sure can beat on each other instead. It’s going to be a lonnnggggg six months for Colorado Republicans.
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Bye Mike. You just outstanked Bobo.
via GIPHY
Do the "Hunter Biden rules" apply here?
Everyone makes mistakes. Forgiveness… Sorry, this is that adult male who wears his cowboy hat indoors. Yeah fuck him.
This might actually guarantee him the nomination: Republicans love lawbreaking dirtbags, the worse the better for them. Frankly I’ll be shocked if they don’t immediately nominate him for governor two years early.
"This might actually guarantee him the nomination"
Sparky has it right. He can spin this by saying his arrest was the weaponization of criminal justice designed by the Deep State to silence yet another truth-speaking conservative.
There may actually be a spike in Republican pols in CD 4 looking to get arrest for the (free) publicity as well as ability to claim victimization.
Speaking of the Governor election. Who do the Dems have that will step up?
My inquiring mind wonders what the event was. Who was there and let Lynch "walk" out after having enough drinks to raise blood alcohol above 0.165 (assuming some metabolized before the test was taken)? To reach that level, UT Chattenoga's chart on alcohol says a 240-pound person would need to have 11 drinks to reach 0.172.
And then, I hope an enterprising media person will talk with CHP officers, the prosecution, the judge, and Mr. Lynch and ask if the consequences of his actions is typical. The community ought to know how often "driving while under the influence of alcohol" is dropped to "driving while ability impaired." What does someone need to do (or be?) to keep a DWIA charge?
If Lynch been a person of color….( you write the rest of that sentence).
Yup. CSP still is not above showing a little white privilege.
Philando Castile knows…
The days of Republicans acting like Laura Bradford did (albeit belatedly) and doing the right thing by standing down – yeah, I know, I'm actually using Laura Bradford as an illustration of proper conduct – are long gone.
Now Mikey, throw your hands in the air and scream, "WITCH HUNT" and "CSP HOAX" at the top of your lungs.
First off, congrats to the State Patrol who handled it properly and did not give him a pass.
Second, is getting arrested a requirement to run in CD-4? Little tidbit buried at the end of the Post article, Ike McCorkle has also been arrested while Boebert is arrested so often they've named a cell for her.
Time for Porky!
Where was the ketamine shot into the fatass and two EMTs crushing him? Oh thats just for peaceful quiet violin players who happen to be black.
Point of clarification….
How did he “manage to hide” the report for fifteen months. Was it timely and fully filed by the police? In which case, was it a matter of he didn’t disclose it and no one found it until now? Or was there some sort of delay?
[I do not have access to the DP paywall]
Second question: how often to people who race cops and then blow 0.165 get to walk away with DWAI versus DUI?
I definitely share curiosity about your first question, MM. Was it really up to Lynch to disclose it anyway? Seems like it should have been on the scanner or in the blotter for some cub reporter to pick up, but I don't know that.
To your second question, no idea how often it happens, but I've gotta believe people get away with stuff to some extent with the right combos of (pick a few) race, age, social status, geography, rural libertarianism, relationships with cops, etc.