Hickenlooper found to have created appearance of impropriety

BY FREDA MIKLIN GOVERNMENTAL REPORTER

On June 5, in a split vote, the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) concluded that former Governor John Hickenlooper twice acted in contravention of Colorado constitutional amendment 41, passed by the voters in 2006, by accepting something of value from two for-profit corporations, once in March 2018 and once in June 2018. There was no allegation that Hickenlooper accepted any type of bribe or provided any type of favor. Frank McNulty made over 90 allegations of misconduct in a 189-page complaint filed with the IEC on October 12, 2018. After the IEC evaluated the information in the complaint, it dismissed all but six out of hand. A detailed public hearing including testimony was held for the remaining six, after which the IEC voted, mostly unanimously, to dismiss four of them. McNulty, an attorney and former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, is a Republican. Hickenlooper is a Democrat who served as Denver’s mayor from 2003 to 2011 and Colorado governor from 2011 to 2019. He is currently seeking the nomination of his party to run against Republican U.S. Senator Cory Gardner on November 3.

Then-Governor Hickenlooper was invited to attend and speak at the commissioning of the submarine USS Colorado in Groton, Connecticut on March 15, 2018. Instead of flying commercial at the expense of the state, he and other state officials accepted an offer from Larry Mizel to travel there with him and other executives in a private plane owned by Mizel’s company, MDC Holdings, a large homebuilder. Hickenlooper also attended a dinner and a reception sponsored by MDC while in Groton, returning to Colorado on a commercial flight. That flight and his other travel expenses were paid by the state because he was in Groton on official state business. In his testimony to the IEC, Hickenlooper said that Mizel was a longtime friend, thus he felt that the flight fell under the exception in Amendment 41 that states that acceptance of a gift from a personal friend on a special occasion is exempt from the ban on gifts to public officials. He added that there was no talk about the housing industry during the flight. No testimony was presented that any improper actions were contemplated or taken as a result of Hickenlooper’s flight on the MDC owned plane to Connecticut. The ethics commission, on a split vote, determined that the free one-way flight and meals violated Amendment 41 because it created the appearance of impropriety.

On June 6, 2018, Hickenlooper traveled to Turin, Italy to attend the Bilderberg Meeting, an annual event described as “a forum for informal discussions to foster dialogue between Europe and North America.” Its invitees are typically prime ministers, international corporation presidents, and many of the world’s power elite. In 2019, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Jared Kushner, senior advisor to President Trump, attended the meeting. Hickenlooper’s participation in 2018 was not in his official capacity as governor hence he paid personally for his round-trip airline ticket and his $1,502.97 hotel bill upon checking out. Hospitality costs including catering, ground transportation, tours, security, and a gift basket with Italian toiletries and branded mints were provided for all attendees by meeting sponsor

Fiat Chrysler. No information is available or was provided to the IEC as to Hickenlooper’s share of the actual costs of those hospitality items as one of 129 meeting attendees.

Hickenlooper told the IEC he believed the amount he paid the hotel included whatever his share of hospitality costs would have been. In discussions after all testimony was received, Bill Leone, IEC Vice-Chair expressed the opinion that Hickenlooper should have known that the $1,502.97 that he paid was not enough to have covered all the hospitality costs provided by Fiat Chrysler, thus creating an appearance of impropriety.

When a determination that Amendment 41 has been violated is made, the IEC is empowered to levy a fine. It is scheduled to meet on June 12 to decide on the amount of the fine in this case.

Fmiklin.villager@gmail. com