Congress
Feds ask states not to send over controversial voter roll information until court settles suit
DENVER – There’s a chance that Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams won’t be sending over Colorado voter roll information on Friday, as the Election Integrity Commission on Monday asked Williams and other secretaries of state not to send the information over until a judge settles a court case over the commission’s intentions.
Last week, the Electronic Privacy Information Center was among several organizations that sued in federal court seeking to block the commission’s quest to gather voter data from each state in the U.S. Continue reading
Hundreds withdraw Colorado voter registrations in response to compliance with commission request
DENVER – At least two Colorado county clerks say they’ve seen a large increase in the number of people who have withdrawn their state voter registration since Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams said he would send the Trump administration’s election integrity commission some voter-roll information in accordance with state law.
Alton Dillard, a spokesperson for the Denver Elections Division, said 180 people have withdrawn their registration in the county since July 3. When compared to the eight people who withdrew their registration from June 26-29, it marks a 2,150 percent increase, according to Dillard. Continue reading
Colorado secretary of state will send voter roll info allowable under state law to feds
DENVER – Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams held a news conference Wednesday morning to further address the voter roll information requested by President Donald Trump’s commission on election fraud.
Last week, the vice chair of the Election Integrity Commission, Kris Kobach, sent a letter to Williams and all other secretaries of state requesting the full name, address, date of birth, affiliated political party, last four Social Security number digits and voting history since 2006 of every voter in the state and country. Continue reading
Colo. GOP Rep. Mike Coffman basically started a hashtag telling Trump to stop the Twitter tantrums
DENVER – U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman was back on Twitter over the July 4 weekend imploring President Donald Trump to stop his controversial and often petty Twitter usage.
“Exactly what I meant when I said, #StopTheTwitterTantrums,” Coffman, a Colorado Republican, tweeted Sunday in response to the president’s latest controversial statement: A gif of the president and showbiz entertainer slamming “CNN,” or rather a person with a CNN graphic overlayed on their head, to the ground at a WWE wrestling match.
Exactly what I meant when I said, #StopTheTwitterTantrums https://t.co/A7HMLKEemP
— Rep. Mike Coffman (@RepMikeCoffman) July 2, 2017
The tweet originated on a Reddit board used by proponents of the president, coming from a user with a history of racist posts. It also doesn’t show what happened to Trump in the WWE match afterward: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin delivered his signature move to Trump, the “Stone Cold Stunner.”
It was the second time Coffman used the hashtag #StopTheTwitterTantrums in four days in response to one of the president’s tweets.
Last Thursday, after President Trump took to Twitter to again disparage “Morning Joe” hostess Mika Brzezinski (“low I.Q.”) and host Joe Scarborough (“Psycho Joe”) as part of his ongoing feud with the show, which had long been one of his favorites.
Trump also said Brzezinski was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” when he saw the couple on New Year’s Eve.
Trump’s tweets were panned across the political and social spectrum, including by Coffman.
“The President’s tweets are beneath the dignity of his office. It needs to stop. #StopTheTwitterTantrums,” Coffman tweeted.
The President’s tweets are beneath the dignity of his office. It needs to stop. #StopTheTwitterTantrums
— Rep. Mike Coffman (@RepMikeCoffman) June 29, 2017
And Coffman appears to have popularized the hashtag, which has been used more than 100 times on Twitter since he first used it on June 29.
It had only been used on Twitter three times before Coffman’s tweet—all by various people in response to a Trump tweet.
Coffman has been one of Colorado’s only Republican members of Congress to take a stand against a major Trump initiative, when he voted against the American Health Care Act, the House Republicans’ version of the effort to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act.
He also voted against the repeal of an FCC rule that kept internet service providers from sharing user data and selling it to other companies.
But aside from that, according to FiveThirtyEight’s “Tracking Congress In The Age Of Trump” tracker, Coffman has supported every other major policy measure supported by the president, agreeing with the president’s position 94.6 percent of the time.
Though many Republicans have voiced their opinion that Trump’s tweets are below the office of the President, Democrats and some newspaper op-ed pages have scoffed at those statements, saying Republicans should instead stand up to Trump on policy measures instead of just his tweets.
The Denver Post had a new editorial out Monday as well regarding Trump’s tweets: “Instead of wrestling CNN, Trump should have gone to Comic Con”.
Some face police interference charges in protest at Cory Gardner’s office; building manager ID’d
DENVER – The 10 disability advocates arrested Thursday evening at the Denver office of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., were all in the process of being released from jail Friday afternoon, save one woman who was not admitted to Denver’s jail because of her medical condition.
The Denver Police Department criminal complaints for those arrested all say that Andrew Merritt, who is Gardner’s state director for Colorado, was the person who advised police that the advocates were to be removed from the building. The reports say police were notified at 6:44 p.m. Continue reading
Trump election fraud commission wants personal information from Colorado, US voter rolls
DENVER – The vice chair of President Donald Trump’s controversial Election Integrity Commission wants the full name, address, date of birth, affiliated political party, last four Social Security number digits and voting history since 2006 of every voter not only in Colorado, but in the entire U.S., and wants that information to be made available to the public.
The vice chair of the commission, Kris Kobach, sent a letter requesting that information and more on Wednesday to Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams and every other secretary of state for all 50 states. Continue reading
Disability advocates continue sit-in at Cory Gardner’s office over healthcare bill, won’t be removed
DENVER – A group of advocates, many of whom who are disabled, continue to protest at U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner’s office nearly 24 hours after they took up residency to demand the Republican senator from Colorado vote against the Senate health care bill.
Many of the protesters are from ADAPT/Atlantis Community, Inc., a Denver-based group whose efforts are usually focused on increasing accessibility for disabled people on public transit systems. Continue reading
Search for Littleton Officer Steven Beare, missing on Russian mountain, officially suspended
LITTLETON, Colo. – The Littleton Police Department and the family of Officer Steven Beare thanked the community for their support Wednesday as the department announced the search for the officer, who went missing on a solo climbing expedition in Russia, has been suspended.
“On behalf of the loved ones of Littleton Police Officer Steven Beare and his LPD family, Chief Doug Stephens thanks those from the Littleton community and everyone around the world for their physical, financial, and emotion support during the search for Steven on Mount Elbrus,” the department wrote in a news release.
Beare’s wife, Olivia, hinted Tuesday that the search might be called off shortly.
“There is just too much snow and harsh weather conditions to continue,” she wrote on Facebook Tuesday. “Life itself as I know it is looking extremely bleak.”
Steven Beare, who is also a member of the National Guard, set out to summit Mount Elbrus earlier this month, but was reported missing June 16 in the midst of a severe snow storm in the area.
Mount Elbrus is Europe’s tallest mountain. Beare had set out to climb the seven highest peaks in the world, and had already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
The Beare family had enlisted a top mountaineer, Don Bowie, to aid in search efforts, and Rep. Mike Coffman, a Colorado Republican, met with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. late last week to secure more Russian help.
Bowie’s crew and Russian teams have searched for days for Beare without luck.
The Littleton Police Department said Wednesday that search operations are being scaled back this week and there is no new information about Beare’s whereabouts.
“Olivia, Steven’s parents, and extended family ask that you keep them in your prayers. The LPD and city family will continue to help them in any way possible,” the department said, adding that the family is requesting privacy for the time being.
“They will provide updates when there is new information, but still hope to bring Steven home to Colorado,” the department said.
Olivia Beare and her husband have a 20-month-old child and she is pregnant with their second child.
“I want to express my gratitude for the many ways my family has been helped and encouraged,” Olivia said in a statement via the police department. “These difficult times have been eased by so many acts of kindness.”
Hickenlooper comments on health care process show some of disconnect between parties
DENVER – Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s bipartisan push to block congressional Republicans’ efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act reached a fever pitch Tuesday morning at a news conference he held with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, just hours before the Senate majority announced it would delay a vote on its version of the health care bill because it didn’t have the votes to bring it to the floor.
There was some question about whether Hickenlooper and Colorado’s Republican senator, Cory Gardner, had even talked about the bill earlier Tuesday after Hickenlooper made comments hinting that they hadn’t talked at a National Press Club news conference Tuesday morning. Continue reading
CBO: Senate healthcare bill leaves 22M fewer insured by 2026, but more deficit-friendly than House’s
DENVER – The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the Senate’s health care bill will leave 22 million people who currently have insurance under the Affordable Care Act without it over the next 10 years—a slight improvement on the 23 million people who would lose insurance under the House version of the bill scored in May.
But the CBO estimates that 15 million people will lose insurance next year alone when compared to those insured under the Affordable Care Act. The CBO estimated 14 million people would lose insurance in 2018 under the House version of the bill. Continue reading