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Across party lines, a bipartisan legislative committee that oversees state audits in Colorado on Wednesday rejected Gov. Jared Polis’ claim that he does not personally benefit from his personal business interests and the legislation he signed.
The Legislative Audit Committee voted 4-4 earlier this month to ask the state auditor’s office to investigate whether it can look into the wide-ranging allegations made against police by Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, in a letter to the committee earlier this month. .
Democrats on the panel killed the point of Sonnenberg’s letter, which went beyond a political attack in a re-election year and an attempt to abuse the committee’s authority. Committee Republicans said the letter raised a broader question of the auditor’s reach that should at least be considered.
Sonnenberg called for changes to state law that would require more detailed disclosure of the governor’s business interests, calling for several police “real and actual conflicts of interest that are unchecked and unaccountable.”
It is owned by FanDuel Inc., one of the largest sportsbook operations in the country. He said he profited from the law he signed into law when he allegedly raised a question about legalized sports betting in the state to voters.
Sonnenberg also owns Police Real Estate in Boulder, which has been advertised by the state’s economic development agency and will try to advertise office space for lease.
Additionally, Sonnenberg said the police reneged on a campaign promise to put his business interests in a trust to avoid any conflicts of interest, as he did when he was mayor of Denver and later governor of Colorado.
Committee Rep. Jeff Bridges, D-Greenwood Village, said: “This is just a political letter written for political reasons and if we give it any weight, we will give credence to the politics of this committee.” This is clearly offensive, partisan and politically motivated.
Committee Chairman Sen. Jim Smallwood, R-Parker, said it was a bad idea not to ask Auditor Kerry Hunter’s office to at least investigate whether an audit is possible.
“I want to look at this from the perspective of the office, but not the elected official,” Smallwood said, adding that audits of elected officials would be off limits. “The governor’s office is like any other region of ours. Is this under the (auditor’s) control or not, is it worth seeing the office or not? It would be unfortunate to say that the office will never be audited.
Sonnenberg lamented the result.
“It’s really bad when partisan politics gets in the way of doing the right thing,” he told The Denver Post on Wednesday. “There’s no reason why we can’t look at this situation and see if there’s anything wrong done or maybe we should change some things, so elected officials are more transparent.”
It’s unclear whether he will take the complaint to the Colorado Ethics Commission.
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