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Hickenlooper didn’t always reimburse travel on private planes, report says. An ethics panel will decide if that was illegal.

Jesse Paul, Colorado Sun
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will face Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in November after defeating Andrew Romanoff in the Democratic primary.
Special to the Daily

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on several occasions last year criss-crossed the nation on private planes owned by high-powered businessmen or their companies, at times during trips to conduct state business, but only repaid the owners of the aircraft in one instance. 

The Democrat told investigators that he tried to repay the planes’ owners for the travel but was rebuffed or claimed that he was riding on their aircrafts as a friend.

That’s according to a report released Thursday by the state’s Independent Ethics Commission as part of an investigation into allegations made by a Republican group that Hickenlooper violated Colorado laws around public officials accepting gifts. 



It’s not clear, though, if any of the travel was illegal since there are exemptions for travel for official business and gifts made by friends.

The report, notably, doesn’t make conclusions about whether the travel was legal — that could come at a later date, once the commission has digested its findings. The report is comprised of interviews with Hickenlooper and the people or representatives of organizations that provided him with flights or other travel accommodations and includes documents substantiating his claims.  

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