Ethics panel fines former Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper $2,750

by: Associated Press

Posted: Jun 13, 2020 / 02:42 PM EDT / Updated: Jun 13, 2020 / 02:42 PM EDT

FILE – In this Aug. 10, 2019, file photo, Democratic presidential candidate former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper speaks in Des Moines, Iowa. Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper didn’t appear at a Colorado Independent Ethics Commission hearing Thursday, June 4, 2020, defying a commission subpoena and a court order that he participate as it considers a Republican complaint that trips he took on private planes while Colorado’s governor violated the state’s gift ban. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

DENVER (AP) — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper has been fined $2,750 for ethics violations a Colorado commission says he committed as governor.

Hickenlooper accepted a private jet flight to an official event and received benefits he didn’t pay for at a meeting of government, business and financial leaders in Italy.

Hickenlooper has long denied the allegations, which were brought by a conservative group, and testified that he was only performing his duty as governor by promoting Colorado’s economy when the violations occurred.

Hickenlooper faces a June 30 primary against former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. The winner takes on incumbent GOP Sen. Cory Gardner.