I would rather not have to write this, but let me be clear. I have no use for anyone stupid enough to impair their judgement with any substance and then operate a vehicle. I have experience enough both professional and personal with this. I have an aunt who is still dealing with the results of injuries from a drunk driver who rear ended her at high speed almost forty years ago. I have had to work three different fatality accidents in my ten years as a towing operator, two of which involved alcohol. And I can't really count the number of non-fatality calls involving impaired drivers I've responded to.
If, as it appears did happen, Rep. Bradford was driving under the influence, she needs to admit it. It doesn't matter what the Denver Police Department did in allegedly failing their duty. And if she did not ask for legislative immunity, that is only doing what is right. But in her apology on the State House floor, she did not actually admit to any wrongdoing.
If I am wrong in thinking that Rep. Bradford was impaired on the 25th, then I will apologize. But she said she wanted to be treated like everyone else. She accepted treatment that no one who is not in the legislature would get.
Update:
So now Rep. Bradford is threatening to leave the Republican Party if the House Speaker persists in holding an ethics inquiry.
Note to the Representative: If you have to threaten to quit your team rather than have them look into your activities, then people paying attention will come to the conclusion you were breaking the rules.
And apparently Minority Leader Ferrandino has been playing phone tag with her. I guess he’s hoping to take advantage of the situation by drafting the DUI dodger to shift the balance of power in the State House.
It’s probably far too late to do anything about this now. I don’t know if it’s possible for her to simply confess after the fact – DUI is defined by measurable blood alcohol content, and I don’t know if there’s a provision for saying “Yeah man I was really fuggin wasted” days or weeks later, and having that be proof enough of DUI.
I’m not sure she should resign, at least not while all the fact are still so confused. (The pols diary on this raises a lot of questions, specifically why did Bradford say the things she did on the GA floor if it was all DPD’s screwup, that makes it hard to just take DPD’s word that it was all their fault.)
OTOH, there’s nothing to indicate that she was doing anything other than driving drunk. McNulty yanked her chairmanship in record time, and it’s clear that, if nothing else, this is going to impede her ability to carry out her duties for the foreseeable future. Possibly even the rest of her term (which I believe someone said was her last, thanks to redistricting). If that’s the case, she ought to resign now so her constituents can get a replacement working for them.