More on the "Denver Three"

The "Denver Three" who were kicked out of President Bush's "town hall" meeting last month aren't going away. Diane Carman of The Denver Post has an interesting column on the White House's ever-changing stance on who the "bouncer" that kicked the three out might have been:

Last week in an interview with Fox News reporter Kelley Beaucar Vlahos [click here for Colorado Pols link], White House spokesman Trent Duffy came perilously close to saying the guy was a federal employee. He said that White House advance teams handled logistics for these events. "From what I was told, it was fairly obvious to them that they had plans to disrupt the event. ... It was a judgment call," he said.

Wait a minute, did he just admit it was White House policy?

At Wednesday's press gaggle, White House spokesman Scott McClellan was asked to clarify. He denied that the bouncer was paid staff. "My understanding is it was a volunteer and that that volunteer was concerned that these people were coming to the event to disrupt the event, and that's why he asked them to leave," he said. When asked if the volunteer was acting on the instruction of the White House, McClellan responded, "Not that I'm aware of."

Hmmm. So who might be aware?I asked two other White House spokesmen that question Wednesday. They declined to answer. Dan Recht, attorney for the so-called Denver Three, says interest in the story of ideological cleansing at an official government-sponsored event just keeps gathering steam. Reporters call every day, begging to be the first to know when the bouncer's name is released.

Pressure is mounting.

The story is all over the Denver media again this morning, and the three have also asked Congressman Bob Beauprez to respond. The text of that letter is below.

It's curious that the White House still hasn't figured out a good response to this, and as we've written before, it's not helping Beauprez any as he moves towards a run for governor. Are the Democrats finally learning to take better advantage of negative news stories? It would seem so.

Here's the text of the letter sent by the "Denver Three" to Bob Beauprez:

Dear Congressman Beauprez,

Thank you for providing us tickets to hear President Bush speak about his Social Security privatization plan on March 21. Thank you also for speaking out on our behalf in the aftermath of that event when our First Amendment rights were violated and we were removed due to the viewpoint of a bumper sticker on the car in which we arrived.

Every day, we move closer to discovering the identity of the Mystery Man who kicked us out of the president's taxpayer-funded event and, equally important, who trained that person to improperly remove citizens based solely on their viewpoints.

After similar improprieties were carried out by event staff in Colorado, Arizona, and North Dakota, it is apparent that there was a larger apparatus in place training people to screen citizens and discriminate against them solely because of their viewpoint. Only after we find out who the Mystery Man is and who he was trained by will we know who is responsible for violating American citizens' rights at public events across our country.

The Secret Service has confirmed that the person who kicked us out was a member of the official "host committee," not a rogue volunteer. But they have withheld the most important details about this person.

Yesterday, Congressman Mark Udall sent a letter to the Secret Service demanding answers about the person who kicked us out. We have been impressed by the bi-partisan Colorado unity around this issue – 8 out of 9 members of the Colorado congressional delegation have said it was wrong for us to be removed from the taxpayer-funded presidential event. As the Congressman who provided us with tickets to the event, we request that you join Congressman Udall in demanding answers from the Secret Service. Led by you and Congressman Udall, we hope the rest of Colorado's delegation will add their voices to the cause until we have solid answers.

We were encouraged by your March 31 radio interview with Peter Boyle on 630 KHOW-AM Denver, when you said, "I wish I had a name and maybe someday I could get a name…the White House does the deal. They literally come in and take over." We wish we had answers too, and we look forward to working with your office to get them.

Thank you for your time, and your attention to this matter. It is truly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Karen Bauer
Leslie Weise
Alex Young

Comments

[Strider]

I have heard rumors that the "mystery man" is one of BB's aides! Boy if that turns out to be true . . .

[gmontag]

Strider, if you have any more details on the rumor please email me. I'd love to check this out. [email protected]

[Joey]

Is this issue going to sink Bobby B's candidacy? No way! Full investigation? fine. Section 1983 lawsuit? Fine - let's find out the truth and hold people accountable. But do you think the citizens of Colorado are going to join forces with the Three, put on a huge demonstration march to the capitol and bring Bobby B to his knees? You're dreaming!

[Phoenix Rising]

Unless Strider's less-and-less likely rumor pans out, I'd say Beauprez gets away from this one clean, at least by direct implication.

But Beauprez has enough other potential baggage from the national level depending on how things keep heading. He's still grabbing the third rail of Social Security, he's still a Bush loyalist (which may drag him down in any Bush scandals), and he's not DeLay-free.

[Cod]

It wouldn't surprise me if it were Beauprez's aides who asked the three to leave. His good-guy image only goes so far down the ladder. He is known for employing dirty tactics. I'm sure he will get away with this one, but as a farmer he should know: as you sow, so shall you reap.

[alan]

beauprez is straight-up lying. his people were all over the list of ticketholders.

when we (progressnow) sent out an email advertising the Bushprez tickets available for pickup at his office, one of his staffers was on our site within an hour or so saying that they "can't wait to see you there." even misspelled my wife's name, just like on her ticket. and we don't live in Lakewood, but that's the address they wrote down from my ID.

it's no BS: the comment originated from the IP address 165.127.13.127, look up who owns it.

http://www.progressnow.org/weblog/archives3/permalink/004091.cfm

we're pretty sure the only reason they didn't throw us out was because we told 8000 of our friends we were going to be there...

[amazed]

Wow. I can't believe you 2 liberals were able to sneak in! The only 2 in fact. Because Beauprez's office probably had GPS on all the other Dems.

I thought they got 100% of you when they kicked the "Bush 3" out... You people are paranoid freaks. The only reason they got kicked out was because an overzealous volunteer heard about the bumperstickers. And it actually turns out that they were indeed going to disrupt the event!

[Strider]

amazed,

Get a clue. Do you honestly think that BB and his people are not worried about this? AND just because your paranoid does not mean they are NOT out to get you.

[Keith]

Strider-
They're not worried. This ain't anymore of thing than Lori McInnis getting a check for over $3100.

[Amazed]

Strider - BB may indeed be worried. But that doesn't mean what crazy (alan) said is true. Or that BB really had anything to do with it. The White House was responsible for handling the crowd, not BB's office.

If "they" are really out to get "you" then why didn't they kick more out? Maybe they're just bad at "getting" people... Then they're just R's who don't like D's or vice versa.

[alan]

see, that's kind of the point, the fact that we didn't "sneak in." that they knew we were coming, which means they were fine-tooth combing the public ticket list. that is, the exact thing Bueaprez doesn't wantto cop to.

if you're going to run mindless cover for this obvious, highly questionable policy, that has a documented track record of having occured now in many states, you should at least crack a joke or two.

[amazed]

X-Files -

If they were only picking certain people out, why didn't they pick you?! You seem to be crazy in your own right and you are part of the crazy, liberal progressive site. But you still got in!

Otherwise, anyone can pick out stupid bumperstickers - not rocket science. That's much more likely than your Big Brother theory.

[alan]

gee, if the same thing hadn't happened in north dakota, new jersey, arizona...

ah, forget it. what's lurking right below your feeble, ad hominem arguments is either a fear that i'm right, or you think that this sort of thing really is okay.

i'm guessing the latter. of course, maybe you're always this pointlessly shrill...

[Red Lady]

A BB aide wearing an earpiece posing as a secret service agent? Strider, either you made that up, or whoever told you did. You really think the White House would give a lowly congressman's staffer access to their radios? The answer is HECK NO. Didnt happen. Look at the big picture here people. GET REAL. BB's office was involved in ticketing - thats it. Yea, they may have done some investigative work and looked at the Progress Now website - thats not illegal.
You guys are going to have to look for another angle if this is really how you think you are going to bring him down.

[Keith]

Maybe Lori McInnis should send BB a check for $3100. to start a legal defense fund :)

[Marshall]

Alan,

I looked up that IP address (165.127.13.127) you gave us and this is the following information.

OrgName: State of Colorado General Government Computer
OrgID: SCGGC
Address: 690 Kipling St.
City: LakeWood
StateProv: CO
PostalCode: 80215
Country: US

NetRange: 165.127.0.0 - 165.127.255.255
CIDR: 165.127.0.0/16
NetName: COGGCC-NET
NetHandle: NET-165-127-0-0-1
Parent: NET-165-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: DNS1.STATE.CO.US
NameServer: DNS2.STATE.CO.US

Doesn't exactly prove anything. We can use this incident to chip away at Beauprez image but if this is the extent of the opposition research on Beauprez then we are in deep trouble. This angers me more than anybody but there is no way anyone in Colorado is going to remember this in two years. We could and should be barking up other trees. The skeletons are out there, we just need to find them and introduce them at a time that will do maximum damage to Beauprez.

Marshall

[alan]

i think you're quite right, especially to the extent that progressnow is a nonprofit and we aren't the ones doing "opposition research" for the dems.

we've pretty much stayed out of this story since the event, and it certainly has acquired a life of its own. it is satisfying to watch the squirm-fest, though, isn't it?

[lumberjack]

This is almost as entertaining as the Bolton confirmation hearing.

[Liars_Always_Figure]

The Denver 3 were sorted out because they were wearing NO WAR for OIL T-Shirts under their outer ware.

BB Rules !!!!

P.S. Oh yeah, they were wearing hemp too.

[Phoenix Rising]

LAF - Bzzt! Wrong answer! No-one ever saw their T-shirts, which said "Stop the Lies!" - they kept their dress outfits on over top the whole time. The "No more war for Oil" slogan was on a car bumper sticker.

Aside from that, wearing said slogan or having said slogan on a car is not a reason to exclude someone from a public Presidential appearance. They caused no disruption, in fact they promised the not-Secret-Service-agent that they would not cause a disruption when they were first approached. The kicking out part came a bit later and with no provocation whatsoever.

[Liars_Always_Figure]

Phonex,

You are correct - I had my facts Bazz Aackwordz.

I would argue their intent was to disrupt the President's speech by hidding the anti-Bush shirts in the firstplace.

If they were "truely" exercising freedom of expression - they would have worn their "Stop The Lies" shirts on the outside in the first place and walked right in with pride. It would have been a better "earned media" moment to be DENIED entry based solely on that issue. Kids today don't know how to protest - despite the media hipe, most of us old farts protested our causes with some class.

I heard the Denver 3 were not cooperating in regards to the area they were assigned for viewing and some unpleasantness was developing and "that was why" they were asked to leave.

Just my thoughts --

P.S. Did they really wear hemp?

[Phoenix Rising]

"P.S. Did they really wear hemp?"

One can only refute so many allegations in one post... ;-)

I've seen nothing about a lack of co-operation in seating or unpleasantness in any of the articles I've read to date. If you can point me to somewhere that's believable that backs that up, please post it here...

[virgil reichle]

I am going to make a prediction. Recall the 1992 presidential election when Ross Perot emerged as a 3rd party candidate. I believe a 3rd party candidate will come along and make immigration reform central to the 3rd party platform. As a result, this reformer will take votes away from the Republicans and enable the Democratic nominee to win with 40-45% of the popular vote. Republicans better wake up soon and address the illegal immigration problem.

Sincerely,

Virgil "Gus" Reichle