Republican state lawmakers are asking for an investigation into the inappropriate and possibly illegal use of federal funds allocated after 9/11 to pay for John Hickenlooper’s legal bills in his ethics battle.
The request from state Sen. Paul Lundeen of Monument and Rep. Rod Bockenfield of Watkins is in response to a Denver Post article revealing the unusual payment arrangement.
The use of federal funds is tightly regulated, and are supposed to be used for essential government services or unfunded mandates.
The lawmakers said there is no language “that allows these federal funds to be used to cover legal bills for former Gov. John Hickenlooper’s private lawyers.”
“The argument cannot be made that paying John Hickenlooper’s legal bills is an essential government service or an unfunded federal mandate,” the letter said.
Then there’s the matter of the coverup.
Hick’s lawyer, Mark Grueskin, and the name of the law firm are not disclosed in the so-called financial transparency database for the payments.
Gov. Polis’s office has yet to comment on the scandal.
Stay tuned!