January 14, 2014 03:55 PM UTC

CO Insurance Commissioner Deflates "UdallGate" Claim

• 12 Comments
• by: IndyNinja

POLS UPDATE: State officials say that not only was Sen. Udall not intimidating the State's Department of Insurance in asking about the validity of policy cancellations, he was also HELPFUL in his questions. So much for that outrage. From Fox 31:

In separate letters Tuesday afternoon, Commissioner Marguerite Salazar and Barbara J. Kelley, the executive director of the Dept. of Regulatory Agencies, informed Congressman Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, and state Rep. Amy Stephens, one of several GOP candidates looking to challenge Udall later this year, that a fact-finding review “revealed no evidence of any intimidation, and the ‘level of coercion by Senator Udall and/or his staff’ was zero.”

On Monday, Salazar was pressed about the interaction by Republican lawmakers during her own confirmation hearing at the Capitol.

“I characterize this as a heated discussion between two staff people that happens all the time,” Salazar said, trying to downplay the controversy.

Salazar’s letter to Gardner Tuesday reiterated that position.

“Senator Udall’s staff was doing their own research separate and apart from the Division, and brought certain information to our attention, including the fact that carriers were sending notices that included renewal options,” she wrote.

“Moreover, we think the Senator’s efforts were useful.”

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(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Article By The Colorado Independent

Marguerite Salazar, confirmed by the Senate in Denver Monday as state insurance commissioner, threw cold water on state Republican outrage machine. During her confirmation hearing, she said the messages staffers for Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall, who’s up for reelection, sent to her office pushing back on the number of Obamacare-related health insurance policy cancelations was routine communication and in fact bolstered the work of her staff.

As CoPols mentioned yesterday, it's only a matter of time before the facts confirm the material points of Sen. Mark Udall's objection with the widely-reported statistic that a quarter-million Coloradoans (yes, that's the right way to write Coloradoans) had their health insurance canceled. But in the mean time, the accusations that Udall had bullied or harassed a state department is losing steam all on it's own with the "victim" saying that nothing had been done wrong. 

But don't hold your breath waiting for this development to be reported very far outside the Colorado Independent.