Senate President Kevin Grantham of Canon City responded Monday morning to the latest letter from Denver District Attorney Beth McCann on whether she would pursue investigations of sexual harassment issues in the General Assembly.

Grantham said McCann’s latest letter, issued last Thursday, wasn’t responsive to a letter he sent two days earlier – the second time in the last two weeks that Grantham has asked the district attorney to open an investigation into sexual harassment allegations that could rise to the level of a criminal complaint.

“We cited all the legal rationale for why she could do it,” Grantham told reporters Monday.

He said the district attorney is “completely capable of doing this” yet didn’t address whether she would do an investigation. In her letter, McCann wrote that the state Constitution “gives the General Assembly authority to establish rules governing the conduct of its members,” including sexual harassment and workplace harassment rules and policies.

Grantham was critical of McCann’s lack of response.

“In every other case, she appears to have the ability and desire to do her job. In this case, it doesn’t appear she wants to,” Grantham said.

Grantham also indicated he was unsure whether McCann believes there has been criminal activity and that he would prefer she indicate one way or the other.

Otherwise, “she’s ignoring the question,” he siad.

Grantham said he believes some of the accusations rise to the level of a criminal complaint but that McCann has turned “a blind eye” to the problem.

“We will move on with our internal process and encourage her to do what she was elected to do,” he said, adding that she can launch an investigation without a formal complaint, a point raised in both letters Grantham sent to McCann in the last two weeks.

The Senate still has two open investigations into sexual harassment by two of its Republican members: Sens. Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs and Jack Tate of Centennial. The report on the Tate investigation has been completed, but Grantham has cited concerns about bias, and it has been sent back to the Employers Council for additional work. However, KUNC reported that the complainant said the Employers Council found the allegation credible.

Baumgardner has three complaints levied against him. The first complaint, alleging he slapped the buttocks of a legislative aide, was also found credible by Employers Council. Grantham accepted Baumgardner’s resignation as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and ordered him to undergo sensitivity training; she said at that time that the matter was closed. There are still two more pending accusations against Baumgardner, including one from a former non-partisan Senate staffer who said Baumgardner created a hostile work environment.

Senate Democrats have asked for a resolution to be introduced that would seek Baumgardner’s expulsion, but Grantham has said the standard for expulsion in the Senate is a criminal conviction. Democrats have taken to the Senate microphone every day for the past week to ask that the resolution be introduced. Under the rules, however, Grantham can wait until April 12 to do so.

Grantham also said a report on a survey being conducted about sexual harassment at the Capitol is expected on April 2. That will give the General Assembly about five weeks to make revisions to its workplace harassment policy. Grantham said he anticipates recommendations on “significant changes.”

From there, the House and Senate will determine what makes sense, and “we’ll have a system in place thought through by someone who works on this every day,” he said.

McCann’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.