DENVER—Rep. Mike Coffman angrily defended himself Friday against allegations he acted unethically two years ago while overseeing Colorado elections, telling an ethics commission that he’s been attacked for partisan reasons.
Coffman, a Republican who was secretary of state for two years before his election to Congress last fall, told the first hearing of the newly created Colorado Independent Ethics Commission that the complaints against him are groundless and meant only to smear his reputation.
“It was essentially a two-year jihad,” Coffman said.
At issue is whether Coffman knew an employee at the secretary of state’s office was illegally running a political side business. The employee, Dan Kopelman, sold voter lists to Republicans, in violation of ethical guidelines because he also helped supervise state elections.
Kopelman was demoted after a blog reported his activities in 2007. But Colorado Ethics Watch, a nonprofit, claims Coffman knew about Kopelman’s business and didn’t stop it.
Coffman argued during several testy hours of testimony Friday that he didn’t know Kopelman was selling voter lists or running a political business, and that when he did learn about it he acted swiftly.
“It would be insane for anybody to think that I did (know) and didn’t do anything about it,” the congressman said.
Coffman said he toughened department rules against running side businesses and even asked for a criminal review, though legal authorities instead advised a state audit.
That audit concluded Coffman didn’t do enough to prevent the Kopelman case, and Coffman at the time acknowledged a “failure of leadership” for it. But on Friday, he insisted he responded appropriately.
“I’ve absolutely been targeted. That’s clear. This has nothing to do with ethics,” he said.
Colorado Ethics Watch is a good-government watchdog group and part of a national advocacy group that files complaints and open records requests. Coffman and his lawyers repeatedly point out, though, that Colorado Ethics Watch files more queries about Republicans than Democrats.
A lawyer for Colorado Ethics Watch, Luis Toro, replied that the group’s motives weren’t relevant.
“You don’t get to turn it around,” Toro said.
Several attempts by Coffman’s lawyers to dismiss the complaint as harassment failed. A Denver District Court judge rejected a lawsuit filed by Coffman to stop the ethics hearing.
The Ethics Commission was created by voters in 2006 though only recently set up. It has no deadline to make a decision, and it’s unclear what it could do. Colorado Ethics Watch has asked for public censure.
The watchdog group also claims that Coffman wrongly steered work on state elections machines to a firm affiliated with a business that acted as a consultant to his congressional campaign. Coffman and his lawyers denied wrongdoing.
A former secretary to Coffman testified that Coffman used e-mail blasts sent by Kopelman to schedule campaign events. Coffman said there was nothing wrong in doing so and that he never thought Kopelman was sending the e-mails in his free time.
The Ethics Commission has five appointed volunteer members. Two recused themselves because of prior relationships with Coffman.
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