Sen. Kevin Grantham
Democrats need to get their sh!t together on this strategery. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman has done a 180 on the punishment that she suggested for Republican State Senator Randy Baumgardner who was accused of sexual harassment. The allegations against him were found credible by an outside firm whose processes were called into question by Senate President Grantham. Grantham is fighting back again following Guzman’s aboutface. Here’s the statement he released:
“If Senator Guzman wanted to dictate punishment for Senator Baumgardner she should not have removed herself from the legislative process. Senator Baumgardner was punished, with the exact punishment requested by Senator Guzman when she was still part of the process, weeks ago. For her office to say otherwise is a complete misrepresentation.
“We have also asked for further criminal investigation into all workplace harassment complaints tantamount to assault. We, as legislators, lack the tools to investigate and punish allegations of this severity. This is why we have repeatedly called on Denver District Attorney Beth McCann to investigate these allegations and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law if she finds the necessary evidence.
“It is beyond baffling why Democrats want to protect the accused – both Republicans and Democrats – from criminal prosecution if they did what has been alleged?”
Grantham has a point. Why would Guzman (or any Democrat) stand in the way of justice for women who had been sexually harassed or, worse, assaulted? And what about the flip-flop? Stripping Baumgardner of his committee chairmanship is good enough or it’s not. It can’t be good enough before Morgan Carroll told Guzman to go for the gold – removal from office.
Speaking of….
When is Morgan Carroll going to call for Mayor Michael Hancock to step down from office? As one protester today noted, “you can’t have one set of rules for the State House of Representatives and another set for the Mayor of Denver.”
This process for fielding, investigating, and resolving claims of sexual harassment against politicians is rotten to the core.