Thursday, the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission is scheduled to hold an all-day hearing on the allegations concerning former Gov. John Hickenlooper.

A Denver District Court judge Wednesday night had denied Hickenlooper’s attempt to delay the hearing. Marc Elias, an attorney assigned to the case by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, filed his appeal with the Colorado Court of Appeals.

Appeal filed on behalf of former Gov. John Hickenlooper, June 4, 2020

The complaints, filed by the Public Trust Institute and backed by the Republican operative research PAC America Rising, allege Hickenlooper accepted illegal gifts, in the form of travel, to several events in 2018.

Amendment 41, adopted by voters in 2006, bans elected officials from accepting gifts valued at more than $59, the limit in place at the time of the travel.

The allegations include:

• travel related to a June 2018 trip to Turin, Italy, for the Bilderberg Meeting, an annual forum “designed to foster dialogue between Europe and North America.”
• travel to Connecticut in March 2018 for the commissioning of the USS Colorado;
• private travel to New Jersey in January 2018,
• travel to a wedding in Texas in April 2018; and
• travel to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in August 2018 to attend the American Enterprise Institute’s Jackson Hole Symposium.

In his response, Hickenlooper said both the trip to Jackson Hole and the commissioning of the USS Colorado were tied to his official capacity as governor. He submitted receipts for the Bilderberg meeting.

What to watch for in Thursday’s hearing

For three of the five commissioners on the panel, this is their first major ethics hearing. 

Commissioner Debra Johnson is the former Denver clerk and recorder. She was appointed to the commission a year ago by Speaker of the House KC Becker.

Commissioner Yeulin Willett was appointed in June 2019 by Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Coats. He is a former state lawmaker from Grand Junction and an attorney.

Commissioner Selina Baschiera serves as a representative of local government, and was appointed by the other commissioners, as allowed under the law. She is deputy director of motor vehicles for Arapahoe County.

Elisabeth Espinosa Krupa, the hearing officer for Thursday’s hearing, has been on the commission since her appointment in August 2017. She is one of two commissioners appointed to the panel by Hickenlooper. She is an attorney, specializing in criminal defense, white collar and civil litigation, securities law and internal investigations, and professional conduct. 

Bill Leone, also an attorney, is the commission’s longest serving member. He was appointed by Hickenlooper in 2013 and reappointed by Senate President Kevin Grantham in 2017. A former U.S. Attorney, Leone is a partner at the Denver law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

How the commission works

The commission is a quasi-judicial body. In Thursday’s hearing, both sides will be allowed to present testimony, including from witnesses. But the commissioners also can ask questions of witnesses, leading to complaints in the past that it acts as both prosecutor and judge. 

Once the two sides have presented their case, the commissioners will deliberate in open session. While the schedule says those deliberations will take place on the same day as the hearing, that would be a departure from their usual practice.

In a hearing on a complaint against Republican state Sen. Vicki Marble of Fort Collins in 2018, the commission held the hearing in January 2018, but deliberated over several meetings and reached a final conclusion in April. The commission voted 3-2 that she had violated Amendment 41 in accepting a town hall held at a restaurant that was paid for by Extraction Oil and Gas. Marble appealed the decision to Denver District Court, and the Court reversed the decision based on a technicality.