Gardner — Mired in Several Ethics Violations — Tries to Distract From His Own Record
Senator Cory Gardner is up on the air with yet another false attack ad, similar to the ones he, Mitch McConnell’s super PAC, and their dark money allies have spent most of 2020 airing. Their smears have already been debunked by fact checkers and labeled “false,” “smell like sh*t” and “horrifying.”
Hickenlooper for Colorado press secretary Ammar Moussa released the following statement in response to yet another false attack ad from Senator Cory Gardner’s desperate campaign:
“There is no clearer sign of Senator Cory Gardner’s desperation than the millions of dollars he’s spending to air debunked and false attacks against Governor Hickenlooper. In his latest ad, not only is he recycling discredited attacks, but he’s even admitting to Coloradans that he’s repeatedly sold them out for Donald Trump and special interests. Coloradans know John Hickenlooper as a leader who brings people together and brought the state out of the Great Recession to become America’s top economy. As much as he may try to change the subject, Cory Gardner’s wildly false ads won’t erase his record of standing with Trump 100% of the time.”
Senator Gardner’s latest ad comes as he faces several ethics and campaign finance complaints, including an FEC complaint for accepting illegal contributions from McConnell’s super PAC. Other pending complaints include a Senate Ethics Committee inquiry into Gardner using official Senate footage in his first campaign ad and two seperate complaints involving a champagne gala Gardner attended with corporate lobbyists. There’s also a lawsuit pending on Gardner’s 2014 campaign illegally coordinating with the NRA.
Since Gardner used a fake conservation organization in an ad greenwashing his toxic environmental record, three ethics complaints are pending against his anti-environmental allies for abusing taxpayer dollars to benefit Gardner’s campaign.
See below to get the facts on the debunked smears in this ad:
FACT: The IEC did not find “dozens” of flights to be violations.
- “Not true to say every flight was a violation.” – Justin Wingerter, Denver Post
- The IEC found two inadvertent errors, and Hickenlooper promptly paid the $2,750 fine.
FACT: No positions in the governor’s office “were sold for corporate checks” – Hickenlooper and other governors have used public private partnerships to fund important projects and help public dollars go as far as possible.
- “This is misleading.” – KDVR Truth Check
- One Book 4 Colorado has gotten nearly half a million books to four-year-olds across Colorado.
- Pedal the Plains brought tourism and economic development to communities on the Eastern Plains through a bike tour—to the tune of a quarter million dollars for host communities.
- Colorado’s Senior Advisor on Aging helped improve life and coordinate services for seniors across the state, leading to U.S. News and World Report to call Colorado the best state for aging.
FACT: Hickenlooper never called for the press to cover anything up.
- “This is false…Hickenlooper never said to cover up anything.” – KDVR Fact Check
- “Hickenlooper is not telling the media to cover up anything. In this case, it appears Hickenlooper is insinuating that an investigation would clear his name.” – Denver 7 Fact Check
FACT: It is “common practice” for the state to appoint legal counsel to defend officials named in complaints.
- “Because the ethics violations occurred while Hickenlooper was governor, his defense was paid for by the government — common practice in Colorado.” – Denver Post
- “In the past two years, the state has also covered the legal costs for an outside attorney representing state Sen. Vicki Marble of Fort Collins.” – Colorado Politics
FACT: In a recent editorial, the Denver Post called Hickenlooper “an ethical public servant” who made “an honest mistake.”
- A Denver Post editorial said, “we don’t believe Hickenlooper was trying to undermine the system, or disrespect the commission, or avoid accountability. In fact, the governor has been extremely transparent.”
- They also noted “there is ample evidence that he tried to comply with the spirit and letter of the law” and “we consider both of those infractions to be relatively minor violations of the ethics laws.”
- They further noted that Hickenlooper was “an ethical public servant” who made “an honest mistake.”
FACT: Republicans are attacking Hickenlooper for his trips to bring business to Colorado. The state went from 40th in job creation to the top economy in the country while he was Governor.
- A national Republican group with ties to Mitch McConnell is behind the attacks: “A vice president for America Rising began filing open records requests in March 2018, when Hickenlooper was still in office, to obtain his travel records. The results of those open records requests formed the basis for the ethics complaint, filed by the Public Trust Institute, which was formed two days before the complaints were filed by former Republican Speaker of the House Frank McNulty.” – Colorado Politics
- There are allowances to the gift ban that include: “Travel to conventions or meetings when the offer is made ex officio, is related to the person’s official duties, is of benefit to the state, the individual is representing the state, or the state pays dues to the sponsoring organization (other exceptions may apply depending on circumstances); Gifts from relatives and friends.” – Colorado Independent Ethics Commission
- “Take Colorado, which ranks No. 1 in the ‘economy’ category for the second year in a row. When Democrat John Hickenlooper first took office in 2011, Colorado ranked 26th in unemployment and 40th in job growth.” – U.S. News and World Report
