Ethics panel narrows complaint against Hick

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission on Monday narrowed the scope of a potential investigation of former Gov. John Hickenlooper’s travel but held off on deciding whether any part of it should go forward.

Hickenlooper had asked the five-member board to dismiss the allegations that he violated the state’s prohibition on gifts valued over $59 because none of the travel in question pertained to a specific policy question or debate the governor was involved in.

The committee stopped short of doing that at its January meeting but agreed to reconsider Hickenlooper’s request after its lawyers review the statute, the constitutional amendment that created the ethics body and precedent.

The complaint was originally filed last fall by former House Speaker Frank McNulty, a Republican from Highlands Ranch. In his formal response to it, Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said he either paid for flights or they were gifts that fell within the constitutional framework.

The committee on Monday did dismiss a handful of specific complaints, including an August trip to Aspen, because Hickenlooper provided receipts showing he paid for them himself. One high-profile trip to Italy remains on the docket. In June, Hickenlooper traveled to the Bilderberg Meetings, a gathering of corporate and political leaders. While Hickenlooper did provide proof he paid for travel to the conference, McNulty argued that the conference itself was a gift.