Is the wrong guy headed to the pokey?
Today's Rocky Mountain News reports:
The investigation of a man suspected of illegally accessing a federal database to benefit Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has been referred to the U.S. Attorney for Wyoming.
Cory Voorhis, an agent for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has been under investigation in the suspected leaking of information on illegal immigrants arrested in Denver. That information was used by Beauprez in a series of TV attack ads against Gov.-elect Bill Ritter.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation conducted a joint investigation of the leak with the FBI. That investigation is largely complete, and the U.S. attorney in Wyoming will decide whether to press charges.
The case was given to Wyoming authorities because Voorhis had worked with the Colorado U.S. attorney on several cases, creating a possible conflict of interest for that office.
What Vooris allegedly did was bad. Criminal, even. But the Bob Beauprez campaign shouldn't be allowed to skate. Apparently someone there did one of two things:
1. Knowingly broadcast illegally gained information over the airwaves, in which case they were participating in a crime.
2. Didn't do any research on whether the information was true or false, which is also a crime.
The relevant statute here is C.S.R. 1-13-109, which states:
(2) (a) No person shall recklessly make, publish, broadcast, or circulate or cause to be made, published, broadcasted, or circulated in any letter, circular, advertisement, or poster or in any other communication any false statement designed to affect the vote on any issue submitted to the electors at any election or relating to any candidate for election to public office Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of this subsection (2), a person acts "recklessly" when he or she acts in conscious disregard of the truth or falsity of the statement made, published, broadcasted, or circulated.
The emphasis is mine. It seems to me that if the Beauprez campaign put those allegations on the air without researching them, they acted "in conscious disregard of the truth or falsity of the statement made."
Morgan Carroll, among others, is on the warpath for campaign reform. But what's the point if we don't enforce the laws we have?
I don't claim to be a lawyer or have any insider information. But I've followed this story obsessively since it broke. And from my perspective, it appears that there are two criminals out there. Voorhis has been thrown under the bus. And Bob Beauprez has been allowed to walk away.
Cross-posted to Square State, where discussion is underway. Hat-tip to ColoradoPols for the Rocky link. Before the election, I wrote a whole series of posts titled "Both Ways Bob is headed to the pokey." You can read some entries here, here and here.
The investigation of a man suspected of illegally accessing a federal database to benefit Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez has been referred to the U.S. Attorney for Wyoming.
Cory Voorhis, an agent for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has been under investigation in the suspected leaking of information on illegal immigrants arrested in Denver. That information was used by Beauprez in a series of TV attack ads against Gov.-elect Bill Ritter.
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation conducted a joint investigation of the leak with the FBI. That investigation is largely complete, and the U.S. attorney in Wyoming will decide whether to press charges.
The case was given to Wyoming authorities because Voorhis had worked with the Colorado U.S. attorney on several cases, creating a possible conflict of interest for that office.
What Vooris allegedly did was bad. Criminal, even. But the Bob Beauprez campaign shouldn't be allowed to skate. Apparently someone there did one of two things:
1. Knowingly broadcast illegally gained information over the airwaves, in which case they were participating in a crime.
2. Didn't do any research on whether the information was true or false, which is also a crime.
The relevant statute here is C.S.R. 1-13-109, which states:
(2) (a) No person shall recklessly make, publish, broadcast, or circulate or cause to be made, published, broadcasted, or circulated in any letter, circular, advertisement, or poster or in any other communication any false statement designed to affect the vote on any issue submitted to the electors at any election or relating to any candidate for election to public office Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for purposes of this subsection (2), a person acts "recklessly" when he or she acts in conscious disregard of the truth or falsity of the statement made, published, broadcasted, or circulated.
The emphasis is mine. It seems to me that if the Beauprez campaign put those allegations on the air without researching them, they acted "in conscious disregard of the truth or falsity of the statement made."
Morgan Carroll, among others, is on the warpath for campaign reform. But what's the point if we don't enforce the laws we have?
I don't claim to be a lawyer or have any insider information. But I've followed this story obsessively since it broke. And from my perspective, it appears that there are two criminals out there. Voorhis has been thrown under the bus. And Bob Beauprez has been allowed to walk away.
Cross-posted to Square State, where discussion is underway. Hat-tip to ColoradoPols for the Rocky link. Before the election, I wrote a whole series of posts titled "Both Ways Bob is headed to the pokey." You can read some entries here, here and here.
Labels: Bob Beauprez, Cory Voorhis, pokey
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