In his first public statement since being arrested, anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce said on Monday that he’s innocent of several criminal tax charges levied against him by the state.
The Colorado Statewide Grand Jury handed down an indictment on April 8 for tax evasion, filing a false tax return, attempting to influence a public official and not filing tax returns in 2006 and 2007. Bruce called the charges “false, frivolous and phony.”
“There’s only one plea when you’re innocent, which is ‘not guilty.’ I did nothing wrong,” said Bruce, after appearing in Denver District Court Monday morning to be advised of his rights by a judge.
Bruce contended that the charges are politically motivated, and said that if they weren’t, a news release would not have been issued by Attorney General John Suthers.
Suthers communications director Mike Saccone said the indictment was far from political.
“This case came to us like any other tax fraud or tax evasion case,” he said. “The Department of Revenue investigated it both civilly and criminally and passed it along to us. We put this before the statewide grand jury and they handed down the indictment.” The Gazette
