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May 23, 2013 12:08 PM UTC

BREAKING: Gessler Repays State For RNLA/RNC Expenses

  • 21 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #3: The Denver Post's Lynn Bartels:

Secretary of State Gessler filed paperwork to run for governor on Thursday, two days after reimbursing the state nearly $1,300 for a political trip to Florida last year.

His political director, Rory McShane, said Gessler's decision to reimburse the money — which led to an ethics complaint against the Republican office-holder — has nothing do with his election plans…

—–

UPDATE #2: In a obviously closely related development, Stokols now reporting that Gessler has officially filed paperwork to run for governor in 2014.

—–

UPDATE: FOX 31's Eli Stokols:

“After many months of attempting to defend himself from this political attack, it became obvious that the Ethics Commission simply wasn’t going to give the Secretary a fair hearing,” Gessler’s spokesman, Andrew Cole, told FOX31 Denver.

“So he decided to pay the money back in an effort to move on from this episode and get back to work for the people of Colorado.”

—–

Big news today in the ongoing ethics and criminal investigation against Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler. A press release we received moments ago from Colorado Ethics Watch explains:

After nearly seven months of defending himself, and reportedly charging the state more than $60,000 in legal defense bills, Secretary of State Scott Gessler has reimbursed the State of Colorado $1278.90 for state money spent on a political trip to Florida in 2012.
 
Colorado Ethics Watch filed a complaint with the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission in October asking the IEC to investigate and determine whether Gessler misappropriated state funds for personal or political use when he was reimbursed for travel to a Republican election law training event and the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.  In response to the complaint, the Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) investigated the transactions.  The Denver District Attorney also announced in November that he would launch a criminal investigation.
 
“We’re pleased that the Secretary finally did what he should have done months ago – repay the state for funds used to attend a Republican Party event,” said Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.  “This should send a message to all elected officials that public funds are not for personal or political use.”

It would appear that Gessler has given up the long and costly fight to defend his use of office discretionary funds on what has every appearance of partisan political purposes–the national conference of the National Republican Lawyers Association, and the immediately-following Republican National Convention last summer.

It's possible that conceding defeat and repaying these funds will help Gessler put this ethics and criminal investigation behind him ahead of a possible run for governor next year. We'll see what the IEC and Denver DA do with this, but another way to look at it is an admission of guilt after a lengthy and embarrassing public spectacle.

And that's not so good for one's political career either, folks.

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21 thoughts on “BREAKING: Gessler Repays State For RNLA/RNC Expenses”

  1. Have to think that repaying will be a good thing for Gessler, and on its own won’t negatively affect (i.e. “admission of guilt”) his position in any investigations.

    A court could even find any eventual charges moot as the money has been repaid.

  3. Even Luis Toro at Ethics Watch says this is the end of it. So much for this stupid scandal.

    Gessler is my candidate barring any unexpected entries. Gessler will wage a frontal assault of Democrat lies and cheating, and that is exactly what we need in Colorado. With all due respect to Tancredo.

    Bring it on, libs!

    2. You must mean "Democratic lies" since Democrat is a noun, not an adjective.  In any case you offer no examples of lies or cheating, Democratic or  of any other variety. A lie can't be "Democrat" any more than it can be" table".

       The basic facts are not contested. Gessler is not disputing the facts but maintaining that what he did was permissible while his accusers are saying it wasn't.  If those saying it was not permissible are ultimately proved wrong then that's what they'll be; wrong. Not liars. Not cheats.

      Gessler paying back the money at this late stage of the dispute can hardly be seen as the act of a man confident he is being perceived as being in the right.

      1. I think GOPher meant that Gessler is so much better at lying and cheating than Democrats. 

        and that is exactly what we need in Colorado

    1. Speaking of God, no word yet from Pat Robertson and friends as to why God hates OK.  I'm sure we would have heard by now had a disaster happened anywhere near New Orleans.

      2. Everyone's already seen what he's capable of. That's why he'll lose. More people care about ethics, lying and bigotry than you think. 

        Don't you ever grow weary of being so completely and utterly wrong?

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