An attorney for former governor and current U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper has asked a Denver District Court judge to quash a subpoena of his client and cancel a Thursday hearing before the Independent Ethics Commission.
Hickenlooper stands accused of violating Colorado’s ban on gifts to public officials by accepting private jet flights from wealthy friends and businesses while he was governor. The IEC has investigated the matter since late 2018 and, on Monday, subpoenaed Hickenlooper to testify at a virtual hearing.
Hickenlooper’s attorneys and campaign claim that doing so would violate his due process rights, because an attorney could not be present with Hickenlooper and because WebEx, a video conferencing platform used by the IEC, is often glitchy.
“This has never been anything but a political hit job to hurt Governor Hickenlooper and this campaign,” said M.E. Smith, Hickenlooper’s campaign manager.
Hickenlooper is being represented this week by Marc Elias, an attorney paid by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Elias told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that Hickenlooper hasn’t decided whether he will appear at Thursday’s hearing if he loses his case or if the matter is undecided by then.
It’s rare for attorneys to challenge subpoenas filed by the IEC, and Elias said he knew of no time when an attorney did so and won. The Public Trust Institute, which filed the ethics complaint against Hickenlooper, said the Democratic candidate continues to use every tool he can to delay his ethics hearing.
“First, he threatened to not show up. Then his lawyers challenged the authority of the ethics commission. And now this is his last ditch effort,” said Suzanne Staiert, director of the Public Trust Institute. “Two questions remain: what is he hiding, and will he show up for the hearing on Thursday?”
Hickenlooper will face Andrew Romanoff in a Democratic primary June 30. The winner will take on Sen. Cory Gardner, a Yuma Republican, in early November.
