Contact:
Jonathan Lockwood
Communications Director
jonathan@compasscolorado.org
720-470-8233
Officials declined to provide information regarding investigation into Udall’s pressure on state agency
DENVER (January 24, 2013) — Yesterday, in response to The Colorado Observer’s Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request to the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA), Gov. John Hickenlooper’s administration declined to provide information regarding the investigative panel looking into allegations Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., and his staff pressured the Colorado Department of Insurance. Some allege Udall and his staff pressured the department to change their metrics report on how many Coloradans lost health insurance as a result of Obamacare.
“If the panel was ‘neutral and objective’ as claimed, why is the Hickenlooper administration withholding information from the public?” asked Kelly Maher, executive director of Compass Colorado. “We have no proof the panel even existed. If it did exist, who was on the panel, who appointed the panel and how did the panel conduct its investigation? These are all questions we need answered.”
The Colorado Observer sought the names and titles of those who participated in the panel, who appointed them to the investigation panel, along with meeting agendas, minutes, and transcripts or recordings. The response from DORA to the media outlet contained none of the requested information about the panel, and seemed to indicate that no panel was, in fact, convened.