Justin Wingerter Profile picture
White-collar crime/courts reporter, @Business_Den. Author of "Four Shots in Oskie" https://t.co/nJJZegdCCt. Formerly @DenverPost, @TheOklahoman_, @CJOnline.
Dec 3, 2020 9 tweets 3 min read
Rep. Ken Buck, chair of the Colorado GOP, is hosting a virtual event on election security and integrity with three Republican county clerks.

Buck is asking questions from viewers and the clerks are answering them, repeatedly describing how secure CO elections are. #copolitics The Zoom call is being streamed on CaucusRoom, a conservative social media site.

There's a huge contrast between CaucusRoom users sharing conspiracy theories in the chat box while the GOP county clerks plainly describe how each step of the election process is secure. #copolitics
Jun 5, 2020 24 tweets 12 min read
In the past 36 hours, U.S. Senate candidate John @Hickenlooper has lost two court cases and been held in contempt.

Colorado's ethics commission will now consider how to punish his contempt and, later, weigh whether he broke ethics laws.

I'll tweet updates. #cosen #copolitics Hickenlooper is not currently on the video conference but is available to testify, according to his attorney.

The commission seems to have softened when it comes to punishing Hickenlooper. They're eager to hear his testimony before they considering sanctioning #cosen #copolitics
Jun 4, 2020 22 tweets 11 min read
John Hickenlooper is not at the Ethics Commission hearing into his alleged violations of the Colorado gift ban.

A leading U.S. Senate candidate seems to be openly defying both a subpoena and a judge's order. Remarkable. #cosen #copolitics On the other hand, this meeting is a massive technical mess, which speaks directly to what Hickenlooper and his attorneys have been saying, that WebEx is no way to conduct a hearing into a serious matter. #copolitics #cosen
Nov 21, 2019 9 tweets 7 min read
John @Hickenlooper is at MSU Denver for a student-led chat. I’ll tweet any highlights. #cosen #copolitics @Hickenlooper On a question about abortion, Hickenlooper says, "“I support a woman’s right to choice, no matter what.”

People who want to cut Planned Parenthood funding “should be punished, in the court of public opinion and at the ballot box," Hickenlooper adds. #cosen #copolitics
Jan 26, 2019 22 tweets 7 min read
This is the scene at @RepKendraHorn’s first town hall of her career, in northwest Oklahoma City. There are about 100 people here. I’ll tweet at times over the next couple of hours. #okpol “We’ve been in sort of a unique time," Horn says of her first three weeks. The crowd laughs. “That’s sort of an understatement, right?”

"We should never be using our federal employees as pawns in any disagreement," she says, her first clap line of the day. #okpol
Aug 10, 2018 5 tweets 2 min read
JUST IN: After a nearly five-year investigation, the House Ethics Committee has told @RepMullin to repay $40,000 to a company he wasn't supposed to have ownership in. The report largely clears Mullin of everything but an accounting error. He had been accused of unethically endorsing his former company and receiving outside income beyond what is allowed. ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.h…
May 11, 2018 7 tweets 2 min read
THREAD: Through open records requests and interviews, I’ve come across what is either an incredible coincidence or highly suspicious behavior by the Oklahoma attorney general related to the Tar Creek corruption case.

Follow along as I explain. It won’t take long. (1/7) As you’ll recall, Oklahoma AG Mike Hunter fought an open records lawsuit for six months between November and April as part of an unprecedented effort by he and his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, to prohibit release of the state’s investigation into Tar Creek. newsok.com/concealment-of…
May 9, 2018 41 tweets 14 min read
EDMOND, Okla. — The six Democratic candidates in #OK05 will take part in their first — and likely only — debate, beginning in a few minutes. Organizers with the Edmond Democratic Women were expecting all six candidates to be here but Leona Kelley-Leonard is not. After some discussion, organizers have opted to begin the forum without her. There are about 75 people in attendance. #EDWForum
Apr 26, 2018 40 tweets 7 min read
Scott Pruitt has arrived at @HouseCommerce's Environment Subcommittee for his first of two congressional hearings. Chairman Shimkus begins with praise for Pruitt's work on Superfund and other matters. "Much of" press coverage is a distraction but can't be ignored, he says. Rep. Tonko, the subcommittee's top Democrat, says Trump's proposed cuts at EPA will allow polluters to set the agenda. (Ostensibly, the hearing is about EPA's budget). "No regard for scientific evidence" at Pruitt's EPA, he says. Pruitt is "a frequent subject of investigation."
Apr 13, 2018 14 tweets 3 min read
I've been thinking lately about whether the controversies surrounding Scott Pruitt will damage him if he runs for higher office in Oklahoma.

I've also been talking with politicos much wiser than myself about it. Here's a thread on what I learned, in case you're interested. 1/14 First things first: There's no guarantee the seat Pruitt has long been rumored to be seeking, Inhofe's Senate seat, will be open in 2020. Below is what Inhofe told the National Journal last month.

Inhofe will be 85 years old when the election rolls around. But he may run again.
Mar 28, 2018 8 tweets 2 min read
Yesterday, I was at a congressional town hall meeting in a small Oklahoma town when something strange happened. It has happened to me before, in other small towns in other states, and I think it says something about society. Maybe I'm overstating this. You can be the judge. (1/8) During a lengthy back-and-forth with the congressman, an older gentleman repeatedly criticized "the media" for what he considered to be unpatriotic, unconstitutional and otherwise unseemly behavior. This is commonplace at some small-town gatherings and I'm well accustomed to it.