DENVER – The Jan. 18 report on a series of sexual harassment allegations against Colorado state Sen. Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs shows an investigator conflicted over the “he said, she said” nature of the allegations and a lack of witnesses to back up the complainant’s side of the events.

As a result, the investigator relied on the credibility of Baumgardner and the complainant, whom she said had no motive to make false allegations. The investigator said she believed Baumgardner had “more likely than not” committed the acts alleged in the complaint.

The report was released Sunday night by the website Complete Colorado. The investigation was conducted by the Employers Council, formerly the Mountain States Employers Council, which has completed sexual harassment investigations for employers for two decades. The Employers Council also conducted the investigation into allegations against Republican Sen. Jack Tate of Centennial and Democratic Rep. Steve Lebsock of Thornton, who was expelled from the House on March 2 over those allegations, as well as alleged retaliation against his accusers.

Baumgardner, a Republican, has steadfastly denied the incidents took place. Last month he voluntarily resigned as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and agreed to take the sensitivity training over and above what is required of General Assembly members and their staff.

The report’s credibility regarding Baumgardner has been called into question by Senate President Kevin Grantham of Cañon City and Majority Leader Chris Holbert of Parker. In a letter last month, issued when Baumgardner stepped down from chairmanship of the transportation committee, the two called the report “biased, inaccurate, inconsistent and with conflicts of interest.”

“With this resolution, we deem the matter closed,” they wrote.

The investigator wrote that she interviewed Baumgardner (although his name has been redacted in the report) on Jan. 8 and that he brought an attorney (whose name also is redacted) with him.

Investigator interviewed the complainant, identified as a former aide to then-Sen. Morgan Carroll of Aurora, on Dec. 22. Three other people – identified only as a lobbyist, attorney and public policy consultant, and member of the Senate Democrats caucus – were interviewed on Jan. 9 and 10.

The complainant alleged Baumgarnder slapped and grabbed her buttocks four times during the 2016 legislative session.

The first incident allegedly occurred in late February or early March, when Baumgardner reportedly grabbed one of her “cheeks.” The complainant said she didn’t remember which one. “He stepped toward me to grab me,” she told the investigator. “It was not a brush past.”

The complainant also told the investigator that the worst perpetrators of sexual harassment at the Capitol “are the lobbyists,” but that lobbyists are also preyed on by senators. It happens so often that “I thought it was all normal,” she said, according to the report.

Baumgardner denied the allegation, stating that he did not recall anything like that “because it never happened” and that he is respectful of his colleagues and coworkers at the Capitol.

The lobbyist who was interviewed had no recollection of any contemporaneous accounts of that particular incident from the complainant. The lobbyist did, however, recall a different day when the complainant seemed upset and went into Carroll’s office. The complainant “more recently” reminded the lobbyist about that particular day and that she had been upset about Baumgardner grabbing her.

The investigator described Baumgardner as “condescending” and “patronizing” in the interview because the investigator didn’t know the layout of the state Capitol. “This sense of superiority” hinders his credibility, the investigator wrote, as did Baumgardner’s quick temper.

He also became angry, defensive and even red-faced, she added.

The investigator also raised issue with his alleged lack of knowledge about the incident, which had been reported in the media, and his inability to give a straight yes or no answer on whether the incidents had taken place. Baumgardner’s answer, that he did not recall, “does not appear as an appropriate response,” the investigator wrote.

But the investigator also appeared to question some of the complainant’s account. The complainant allegedly told two people of the incident at the time of the incident. The report indicates that neither of them recalled the incident, although they did recall the complainant had been upset and wanted to avoid the Senate chamber for a period of time.

The complainant also told the investigator that she had told one of those witnesses about the incident and that person’s response was that Baumgardner “is known to do that.” That witness had a similar response when asked about it by the investigator.

The complainant’s credibility was bolstered by her claim that Baumgardner’s actions were not malicious, the investigator wrote.

“These allegations were difficult for this investigator to resolve,” the report said. On one hand, the witness’s failure to corroborate the complainant’s account as she had described it “decreases the plausibility that the allegation may have occurred.” On the other, Baumgardner’s “do not recall” response “seems too great to overcome.” That, with the addition of the complainant’s lack of motive to make up the allegation, and her appearance of “genuineness,” were persuasive to the investigator.

“More likely than not,” the investigator concluded, Baumgardner grabbed the rear end of the complainant in late February or early March of 2016.

The second allegation reportedly took place in the same week, and the complainant told the investigator that “it began to be somewhat of a game” at that point. “He thought it was funny,” the complainant said. “I turned around and he giggled.” The complainant said she was embarrassed the first time but angry the second.

A witness who was identified in the report as the senior policy director for the Senate Democrats told the investigator that he did not recall an incident but knew the complainant was uncomfortable “around someone.” As for Baumgardner, there are certain things that staff know, and one is not to be caught at night with certain legislators, including Baumgardner, the witness said.

Baumgardner’s response to the second allegation was identical to the first. He didn’t recall any such incident “because it didn’t happen,” he said, according to the report. As a result, the investigator said that she believed the second incident “more likely than not” took place as described by the complainant.

The third and fourth alleged incidents, in which Baumgardner reportedly slapped the aide’s buttocks twice, were said to have occurred later in March 2016. Baumgardner responded in the same way as he did to the previous two incidents, and the investigator came to the same conclusion.

In a “he said, she said,” situation, the investigator wrote, credibility plays an important role.

Senate Democrats continue to push daily for Senate President Kevin Grantham of Cañon City to allow a resolution of expulsion against Baumgardner to be introduced. That refusal, along with a complaint filed against Democratic Sen. Daniel Kagan of Cherry Hills Village over his alleged use of a women’s bathroom, led Sen. Lucia Guzman of Denver to resign her post as minority leader last week.

Correction: to note the sensitivity training is more than what is required of lawmakers and staff.