Republican gubernatorial candidate Marc Holtzman made headlines more than three months ago when he asked the Denver district attorney’s office to launch a criminal investigation into whether primary challenger U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez stole his list of e-mail contacts.
But Holtzman has so far failed to provide the district attorney with evidence to support his claim and has yet to meet with prosecutors – even after repeated requests.
“At this point we have nowhere to go. We do not have any evidence that indicates a violation of Colorado campaign or election laws,” said Dick Reeve, the deputy district attorney assigned to review the case.
“We have no basis to make any determination of whether or not there is merit to the Holtzman campaign’s allegation,” he said.
There is no deadline for Holtzman other than the statute of limitations, which can range from 18 months to three years after the incident, depending on the charge, Reeve said.
But in the 14 years he’s been handling election complaints for the Denver district attorney’s office, Reeve said, “we haven’t previously had a complaint where it has taken this long to get the evidence and firsthand statements from the complaining candidate.”
Reeve said this is the first year prosecutors have required candidates to meet with them before moving forward.
Asked why Holtzman has not followed up on the allegation that Beauprez was using Holtzman’s personal e-mail list of 6,500 names, campaign manager Dick Leggitt said, “Marc was out of town at the time the DA wanted to talk to him.” Then he hung up.
An immediate call back to Holtzman’s campaign headquarters was not returned.
The delay has several political consultants wondering if Holtzman can back up his claims. Most candidates would be only too happy to provide prosecutors with the evidence to investigate their opponents, they said.
“I certainly think that if he had the grounds for the charges that were still relevant he would have moved forward,” said Rick Ridder, a Democratic consultant.
In October, Beauprez’s campaign told the district attorney’s office the names came from a campaign list provided by Gov. Bill Owens. The governor’s office confirmed that Owens allowed the Beauprez campaign to use his list.
Thursday, Beauprez spokesman John Marshall said Holtzman was playing politics with the criminal justice system.
“It was a political attack without merit, and I hope it will be treated as such,” Marshall said.
The Beauprez campaign had threatened to sue Holtzman for libel. But Marshall said the campaign offered not to file the suit if Holtzman stopped leveling the charge in the press, which his campaign did.
Ridder said there could be several explanations for why Holtzman has not moved forward: He may not have the goods; it may no longer be part of the campaign’s strategy; or Holtzman may have decided to stop trashing Beauprez because he’s a fellow Republican.
Democratic consultant Steve Welchert said Holtzman’s delay “looks a little fishy.”
“You can be a vociferous fellow, and you can be colorful, but you need to be able to back things up. Otherwise, people are going to dismiss your charges. The sky only falls once,” he said.
If the charges aren’t substantiated, Welchert said, voters dismiss it as “he said/she said” and that hurts Holtzman’s momentum on the issues.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
