The state’s Independent Ethics Commission will investigate complaints against Democratic lawmakers who attended a weekend retreat with lobbyists in Vail last month paid for, at least in part, by a dark money group.
Commissioners Daniel Wolf, Lori Laske and Cyril Vidergar voted Tuesday in favor of deeming the complaints “nonfrivolous” and allowing them to move forward after discussing them out of public view. Commissioner Sarah Mercer, who chairs the group, recused herself and did not provide a reason for her recusal.
The commission’s executive director Dino Ioannides said via email his office will serve the complaints to the respondents, who will have 30 days to respond after which the commission will conduct an investigation. Then, an investigation report will be provided to the parties and there will be a hearing and a final decision.
The complaints, filed earlier this month by Colorado Common Cause, a liberal-leaning nonprofit that advocates for an open government, allege 16 lawmakers who are members of the Opportunity Caucus violated Colorado’s prohibition on elected officials receiving gifts when they attended a retreat in Vail where they mingled with lobbyists at a ritzy hotel over the Oct. 4 weekend.
The complaints are against Sens. Lindsey Daugherty of Arvada, Marc Snyder of Manitou Springs, Kyle Mullica of Thornton, Judy Amabile of Boulder and Dafna Michaelson Jenet of Commerce City, and Reps. Tisha Mauro of Pueblo, William Lindstedt of Broomfield, Michael Carter of Aurora, Jacque Phillips of Thornton, Meghan Lukens of Steamboat Springs, Matthew Martinez of Monte Vista, Katie Stewart of Durango, Sean Camacho of Denver, Rebekah Stewart of Lakewood, Karen McCormick of Longmont, and Cecelia Espenoza of Denver.
Common Cause also filed a complaint against state Rep. Shannon Bird of Westminster, in connection with the Vail retreat. The complaint alleges Bird was leading the caucus through the time of the retreat. But Bird resigned as chair of the caucus in late August and did not attend the event.
Bird, who is running for Congress in the 8th Congressional District, has already filed a motion to dismiss with the commission asking commissioners to reconsider their ruling that the complaint against her is “nonfrivolous.”
In a statement, Eve Zhurbinskiy, Bird’s congressional campaign manager, called the complaint “as false as it is absurd.”
“Shannon Bird was not at the event in question, she was not Chair of the Caucus, and she, quite literally, had nothing to do with it,” Zhurbinskiy’s statement said.
In a statement, the Opportunity Caucus called the complaints factually inaccurate, but did not provide a list of inaccuracies.
