Littwin: Hickenlooper was hit with two violations, but his biggest mistake was blowing off a subpoena

Now comes the political fallout, which is the only reason that Republicans brought the ethics allegations.

Now that Colorado ethics commissioners have found against John Hickenlooper in two of six cases, the question is how bad the political fallout will be for the former governor who is running for the U.S. Senate.
If you watched the Webex hearings — and I’m proud/sorry to say I watched every minute of them — you would have seen the discussion was mostly about Amendment 41 rules and not nearly as much about actual ethics. That’s the nature of the beast, I guess. I thought the commissioners were more than fair despite Hickenlooper’s refusal to appear as scheduled on Thursday, thereby blowing off a subpoena.

They were right to allow him to testify Friday anyway. If he hadn’t testified, the ruling would have carried far less weight, and many would have just given the commission’s report an incomplete. They were also right to have held him in contempt.

 

Read more of Mike’s column at The Colorado Sun. The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported news organization dedicated to covering the people, places and policies of Colorado. Learn more at coloradosun.com.