Politics
Special prosecutor appointed in Rep. Lori Saine gun investigation
DENVER – The 20th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will handle any possible charges, if any, police decide to pursue in the gun case involving state Rep. Lori Saine, it was announced Monday.
Denver District Attorney Beth McCann asked the office, based in Boulder County, to take the case as special prosecutors because she had previously worked with Saine, a Weld County Republican, when both were state lawmakers. Continue reading
Gang of Five? Bipartisan group of senators working to extend DACA before year’s end
DENVER – One of several measures under discussion to restore protections for Dreamers is being put together by a bipartisan group of senators, including several from the “Gang of Eight,” who want to have DACA restored before the end of the year, sources tell Denver7.
The new discussion involves pairing the Dream Act with some border security measures in an attempt to pass a bipartisan solution for the undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, three Senate aides told Denver7 in interviews this week. Continue reading
Sen. Cory Gardner says Roy Moore ‘will never have the support’ of the NRSC
DENVER – U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, reaffirmed his opposition to Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore Thursday just days before the Dec. 12 special election.
“Roy Moore will never have the support of the senatorial committee. We will never endorse him. We won’t support him,” Gardner, a Colorado Republican, told the Weekly Standard Thursday. “I won’t let that happen. Nothing will change. I stand by my previous statement.” Continue reading
Jeff Sessions scoffs at intern who questioned his marijuana stance, video shows
DENVER – U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions argued with Justice Department interns this summer over the safety and efficacy of marijuana use, according to new videos obtained by ABC News.
In the videos, which were shot during a lecture series for Justice Department summer interns that took place in June, Sessions chastised a woman who questioned his opposition to legal marijuana programs. Continue reading
ICE removals up 145% in Colorado and Wyoming in 2017 fiscal year, arrests up 20%
DENVER – Colorado and Wyoming saw a major uptick in the number of people arrested and deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the first year of the Trump administration, according to new numbers released by the agency Tuesday.
ICE said that in Colorado and Wyoming, 2,746 people were arrested and 2,535 were removed from the U.S. in the 2017 fiscal year, which ran from Oct. 1 of last year through Sept. 30 of this year.
The 2017 numbers show an increase of 145 percent in the number of removals from the area when compared to the 2016 fiscal year, when 1,033 people were removed. Arrests were up 20 percent over the same period, from 2,284 in 2016. Continue reading
Man posthumously awarded with Bronze Star for saving Colorado man, others at Pearl Harbor
DENVER – A Navy sailor credited posthumously Thursday with a Bronze Star Medal for saving the life of a young sailor who now lives in Colorado Springs, and the lives of several others, from the USS Arizona when it was attacked while in Pearl Harbor 76 years ago was honored on the Senate floor as well.
Sen. Cory Gardner took to the floor to honor Joseph George, who was posthumously awarded with the medal at a ceremony at Pearl Harbor Thursday, for saving Colorado Springs veteran Donald Stratton that fateful day. His medal was awarded with a V device for valor. Continue reading
Former Colorado GOP chairman Steve Curtis found guilty of voter fraud, forgery
DENVER – Steve Curtis, the former chairman for the Colorado Republican Party, was found guilty Thursday by a Weld County jury of voter fraud and forgery.
Curtis, 58, was arrested in March and accused of signing his wife’s mail-in ballot for her, which is a misdemeanor in Colorado. He was also charged with forgery of a public record, a fifth-degree felony. Continue reading
Jury convicts former Mexican officer of sexually assaulting Aurora woman
DENVER – An Arapahoe County jury on Wednesday found a Mexican former law enforcement officer guilty on seven counts related to his breaking into an Aurora apartment and sexually assaulting a woman in October 2016.
Ricardo Corral-Venegas, 26, was convicted of six felony counts that include several sex assault counts, burglary and kidnapping. He also received a sentence enhancer for using a weapon in a violent crime. Continue reading
House passes bill that would allow concealed carry across state lines
DENVER – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 231-198 Wednesday to pass a bill that would allow people with concealed carry permits to carry their weapons into other states where concealed weapons are allowed—though Republican Rep. Ken Buck voted against the measure.
Buck, who cosponsored the bill in January that changed before Wednesday’s vote, was one of 14 Republicans who voted against the measure, the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017. He was targeted in NRA emails earlier this week urging constituents to call him and tell him to “listen to his constituents and vote for H.R. 38.” Continue reading
Colorado’s Michael Bennet on Al Franken: ‘I’m confident he’ll do the right thing and step aside’
DENVER – U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, said Wednesday he was “confident” that Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., would “do the right thing and step aside” amid multiple allegations that Franken sexually harassed or assaulted various women.
“Sexual harassment and misconduct are never acceptable,” Bennet said in a statement posted to Twitter, noting that Franken said minutes earlier he would make an announcement Thursday morning. Continue reading