The Colorado GOP chairman Thursday called on Gov. Bill Ritter to address whether he used a government office for his political bidding in last year’s gubernatorial race.
The challenge comes in the wake of charges brought against a federal agent who accessed confidential information later used in an ad for Republican Bob Beauprez’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign.
The agent’s attorneys allege two other people accessed the same database during that time period, including an employee at the Denver district attorney’s office. On the same day, Ritter’s campaign demanded an investigation into how Beauprez obtained certain information in the ad. Ritter is a former Denver district attorney.
“They are a government office who appear to be performing political work for Bill Ritter,” said state GOP leader Dick Wadhams.
Evan Dreyer, spokesman for Ritter, said the campaign did nothing wrong.
“We didn’t ask the DA’s office to do anything,” he said. The DA’s office has said it accessed the database during the regular course of business in response to a deluge of media inquiries.
Dreyer also said that the GOP was trying to divert attention from its own problems regarding the case.
The same court filings also allege that the Colorado GOP had hired a Texas investigator, who made the same inquiries as the federal agent and the DA’s office.
Bob Martinez, head of the GOP last year, said he had no knowledge that the party had hired an investigator.
Karen Crummy: 303-954-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com
