UPDATE: RevealingPolitics.com provides a much cleaner audio of the Governor’s response.
Did they talk, or didn’t they?
In an audio tape of the conversation between Governor John Hickenlooper and a majority of the county sheriffs of Colorado, the governor was asked about his (alleged) conversations with Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the leading gun control proponents in the nation, and Hickenlooper’s simultaneous failure to consult with any of the sheriffs in Colorado.
At 4:32 (audio embedded below), Governor Hickenlooper says:
“Well, lets, let’s stick to the facts. I never talked to Mayor Bloomberg. I…Again, that’s been out in the press and all this stuff. Just for the record. You know, I met Mayor Bloomberg when I was a Mayor, and I know him, uh, I think he’s a pretty good Mayor.”
Records for the Governor’s cell phone obtained by CompleteColorado.com last year through an open records request show two incoming phone calls from Mayor Bloomberg.
Friday, March 02:
And Tuesday, March 19:
On June 4, CompleteColorado.com asked Hickenlooper spokesman Eric Brown if he would confirm the nature of the conversations, and make any other comments he wished about the relationship between the Governor and Bloomberg. The request for comment was never returned in any fashion.
Additionally, when the Governor’s spokesman was asked about the conversations between Hickenlooper and Bloomberg a month after CompleteColorado.com published the phone logs, spokesman Eric Brown confirmed the conversations. According to KRDO, Brown said:
“The governor talked to many people on all sides of the gun issue. For example, he hosted NRA President David Keene in his office for a meeting, and he talked to Mayor Bloomberg on the phone. He also met with families of crime victims and with interested advocacy groups such as the Independence Institute (now partnered with sheriffs in a lawsuit). Any outside influence hardly came from one place.” (emphasis added).
The phone records displayed were redacted upon request by the Governor’s office. At the time of the request, the Governor’s office did not want full phone numbers to be released, and thus struck a compromise — they could redact the last 6 digits of the phone number if they identified all calls. Therefore, the identification of the calls on March 2 and 19 come from the Governor’s office, and, at no point in over 12 months of our original report remaining online were the claims of conversations between Hickenlooper and Bloomberg ever refuted.
The tape presented above was not edited other than the person starting and stopping the recording. The person who made the recording has confirmed to CompleteColorado.com that the battery on the phone being used was low, and the person stopped and started the recording at different times. This accounts for some disruptions in the flow of the conversation.
Send us tips at CompleteColorado@gmail.com.
