Republicans Determined to See Coffmangate Scandal to Bitter End

According to Tancredo, the meeting addressed a litany of concerns including the type of character assassination that could bring untold financial liability to the party. Tancredo said that House slandered Harvey in front of radio personnel and party leaders. The allegation: Statements by House that he feared Harvey would embezzle money from the state party due to Harvey’s impending divorce and bankruptcy proceedings. But there was no divorce and no bankruptcy.

House’s alleged statements were filled with lies. There was no reason to fear embezzlement.

You’ve gotta love that last line. Politichicks is defiant that something that House may or may not have said was a bunch of lies anyway. What if the “alleged” comments prove to be untrue? Was House still lying about something he didn’t say?

A woman came forward shortly thereafter confessing to an adulterous relationship with House.

Colorado Pols has the original audio recording of this “confession.” The recording completely refutes the claims of this woman, and in fact does more to indicate that there was an elaborate plot to force House to resign as State Party Chair.

Prior to their vote of confidence, the executive committee held a vote to not allow a secret ballot on House’s ability to lead the party. Inside sources state that the committee voted 11-8 to hold an open vote—suggesting that if votes had been cast by secret ballot, they would have reflected a more divided committee.

So, the only reason that Steve House received an overwhelming vote of confidence from the GOP Executive Committee is because they were not allowed to cast secret ballots? Uh, you’re not really helping here, Politichicks.

The post moves on to describing, in excruciatingly-pointless detail, the “physical environmental challenges” at the June 26th Executive Committee meeting. Apparently there was no cold water available. There was no food offered. At one point, Cynthia Coffman was forced to — GASP! — sit on the floor because there were not enough chairs available.

In an exclusive interview with Politichicks, Coffman broke her silence and exposed a stunning disregard for decorum in its treatment of both elected officials and party activists by the executive committee. Inside sources provided additional details, corroborating Coffman’s account of events.

Wait, we’re arguing about “a stunning disregard for decorum” now? Nevermind that the Colorado Attorney General appears to have been involved in an attempt to blackmail the State Party Chair — what’s really important here, if you ask Cynthia Coffman, was the unforgivable absence of water and chairs.

Coffman estimated that is it was in the high 70s to low 80s in the hallway—others in attendance described the temperature as sweltering. She was told the air conditioning was out because of a lightning strike the previous day. Executive committee members went in and out periodically to use the restroom or get a drink.

And how did the waiting area smell? What about car traffic to and from the venue — how was that?

Why are we talking about this?

The committee limited Coffman’s comments, halting her from presenting her prepared remarks in their entirety. “I was given five minutes to speak and five minutes for questions,” Coffman said…

…“I galloped through my prepared chronology of events but was not able to finish in five minutes. I felt I had to leave out significant facts,” Coffman said.

Really? Because there’s only one “significant fact” that comes to mind: Did you participate in an attempt to blackmail Steve House? Is there some sort of viable defense for participating in blackmail, but only for a good reason?

In addition to the attempt to prevent the attorney general from speaking, the committee was successful in stymying former US Congressman Tom Tancredo and Pueblo County Chair Becky Mizel. When the group was ready to call Tancredo, he was outside the building seeking refuge from the sweat filled hallway. Sources state that Hoffman refused to allow Tancredo to be called into the meeting by phone or text.

We are talking about Tom Tancredo here. Nobody in the history of Colorado politics has ever had a problem finding Tom Tancredo when it is his turn to talk about something. The story we have heard, meanwhile, is that Tancredo just seemed to vanish whenever it was his turn to speak “on the record.”

“I do not feel I or any of my colleagues were treated respectfully that day. I am not sure there is another of my AG colleagues in the country who would have waited under the same circumstances. I will simply say the excom appeared to be unsure of its authority, process, or purpose,” Coffman said.

Let the record show that Cynthia Coffman exhibited extreme bravery in overcoming both a lack of cold water and a dearth of chairs in the building. By the way, was Cynthia Coffman on the clock during the entire Friday she spent sitting (or not sitting) waiting to talk to a Republican Executive Committee that has absolutely nothing to do with her full-time job as Attorney General?

The House scandal continues to hold momentum in Republican circles as grassroots activists decry the lack of information that came out of the executive committee meeting. [Pols emphasis] There has been talk about petitioning the issue before the GOP’s State Central Committee which would be public and open to the press. As of yet, a petition has not been circulated.

Here’s the part where Republicans openly admit that internal infighting is stoking the fires of the Coffmangate Scandal. And now, here’s the part where Steve House is branded as the villain in the story:

Did the executive committee’s vote of confidence send an unintended message that it is permissible in the GOP to spread lies about elected officials? Is it acceptable to malign reputations through false claims of blackmail—only to flip-flop in the name of party unity?