DENVER - The Denver District Attorney's Office said it will not investigate a case to determine if three politicians had engaged in extortion in an attempt to get Colorado Republican Party Chairman Steve House to resign after details were leaked about a rumored affair he had.
Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo said Thursday that the name of the woman who House allegedly had an affair with came up in a meeting last week in which several fellow Republicans expressed concerns with House's leadership.
Tancredo's comments to The Durango Herald come as a left-leaning group, ProgressNow Colorado, called on Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey to investigate Tancredo, along with Republican Attorney General Cynthia Coffman and a well-known Pueblo Republican. The DA's office Thursday afternoon declined to take the case.
House alleges that Tancredo, Coffman and Becky Mizel attempted to blackmail him by threatening to leak details of a rumored affair with Republican activist Julie Naye, but House denies the relationship.
An audio recording posted on the left-leaning blog ColoradoPols.com between a private investigator and Naye has Naye denying the affair. But a conservative blog, Politichicks.com, ran a tabloid-style story this week claiming to have an interview during which Naye admitted to having an affair.
Tancredo said Naye's name came up in their meeting last week, but that the purpose was simply to offer "friendly advice" to House, who has been facing criticism within the party over his leadership.
"I look at it more as an intervention with somebody who was a friend," Tancredo said. "I don't think the word 'extramarital affair,' those words, ever came up, I don't recall them. ... The lady's name (Naye) was mentioned at that point, that was pretty much the end of the conversation."
The Herald asked: "Why would her name have come up?"
Tancredo responded: "There was essentially concern. I'm sure that was a problem."
The Herald then asked, "What would that problem be?"
Tancredo said: "What do you think? He immediately walked out and called her."
The Herald also asked: "Is it fair to say that her name was brought up because you were trying to let him know this is something you guys know about, and that it could come back potentially to haunt him?"
Tancredo answered, "Yeah, I think that's probably the correct context."
House did not return a call for comment Thursday. But on Tuesday he told the Herald, "The truth is, I didn't have an affair. ... This is a character assassination."
Tancredo was emphatic the purpose of the conversation was not to extort House but to let him know of the concerns so that he could decide whether he should continue his role with the party. Initially, House agreed to resign, but then he backtracked after talking to his wife, stating that he wasn't going to be "bullied" into stepping down. Tancredo believes House is trying to turn the tables.
"Nobody went in there with, 'We've got to talk to Steve House because he's having an affair. ... That was not the issue," Tancredo said, adding that the state party is preparing for an executive meeting on Friday during which many of the issues are expected to be discussed.
"I'll be damned if I can tell how I, or Cynthia, especially, or Becky, could in any way profit by this," he continued, suggesting that there's more to lose politically than there is to gain. "There's absolutely nothing in it for any of us." One of the allegations has been that Tancredo, Coffman and Mizel wanted House out for not hiring former state Sen. Ted Harvey as executive director of the party. But Tancredo stressed that Coffman never supported Harvey.
Coffman did not return a request for comment Thursday. But in an interview with The Denver Post on Tuesday, Coffman said the purpose of the meeting was to express concerns that House was being untruthful and leaving the party open to potential litigation. The state's top attorney said there was no blackmail or extortion.
An attorney for the Colorado Republican Party recently contacted the U.S. attorney's office in Colorado concerning the matter, though that office said Thursday that it still had no involvement in the case. The state GOP on Tuesday also said it contacted the Denver DA's office about the incident, but the DA's office said those reports were "not true."