#CoverUpCory

Denver, CO -- Colorado Democratic Party Chair Morgan Carroll released the following statement in response to Senator Cory Gardner’s vote for Mitch McConnell’s impeachment cover-up:

“After months of ducking Coloradans and running from reporters, today Senator Gardner did exactly what we’ve come to expect from him -- voted in lockstep with Mitch McConnell to block witnesses and evidence from Republicans’ sham trial before the Senate. Gardner’s vote today for his party’s cover-up made clear that he has abandoned not only his pledge to serve as an impartial juror in the impeachment trial, but also his campaign promise to be an independent voice for our state. Voters will remember in November how Gardner sold out our country and our Constitution, and put his loyalty to Trump and McConnell ahead of Coloradans.”

In the year since he endorsed President Trump’s re-election, Gardner has scrambled to avoid scrutiny for hugging closer and closer to the president. Gardner spent months earning front-page coverage for his efforts to dodge basic questions about Trump’s conduct, and refusing to say whether he would support a fair trial with first-hand witnesses and evidence backed by a majority of Coloradans.

Despite his best efforts at evasion -- including running from reporters on a moving walkway and going viral for repeatedly refusing to say whether it was inappropriate to ask a foreign government to interfere in our elections -- Gardner tipped his hand earlier this week when the Wall Street Journal reported that he pushed senators in a closed-door meeting to back the McConnell-Trump cover-up because a fair trial that included testimony from first-hand witnesses would hurt his own re-election prospects.

Read more about Gardner’s months-long “political calculation” to back the impeachment cover-up:

• Denver Post Editorial: “[Gardner] should remember that his power actually flows from the voters of Colorado who elevated him to this high office… Gardner should listen to what those constituents are saying.”

• Aurora Sentinel Editorial: The moment of truth for Cory Gardner and Republicans arrives in the Trump impeachment trial

• Conservative columnist Mario Nicolais: Sen. Cory Gardner, we deserve the whole truth about Donald Trump

• Gardner Ally & Former Conservative Radio Host Craig Silverman: Some day, this Trump and Gardner bromance will end badly

• New York Times’ David Leonhardt: Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Invisible)

• Aspen’s Ed Colby: Give Gardner a nudge

• New York Times: Where Is Cory Gardner?

• Washington Post: He’s a vulnerable Republican in a state that’s trending blue. So why won’t he defy Trump on impeachment?

• KRDO Colorado Springs: Protesters demand answers from Colorado Senator Cory Gardner

• KDVR Denver: “Gardner Hasn’t Done a Fox31 Interview on Impeachment Since This Exchange Went Viral in October”

• CNN: TV Station Finally Lands Interview with Senator… At Airport

• Pueblo Chieftain: Puebloans rally as impeachment trial nears

• Denver Post: Speculation surrounds Cory Gardner’s vote on impeachment witnesses

• Denver Post: Cory Gardner, facing impeachment questions from all sides, is mum as the Senate looks ahead

• Associated Press: “[Gardner’s] walked the party line during Trump’s impeachment and subsequent skirmishes over the president’s trial… It’s a political calculation that values loyalty to Trump and his base over any bipartisan appeal.”

• Colorado Sun: Does Cory Gardner have a breaking point when it comes to Trump? The political climate suggests he better not.

• 9News: “Republican Senator Cory Gardner has got President Trump’s back… we asked if his support of this resolution means he thinks it’s appropriate for a president to ask foreign governments to investigate an opponent, and once again he avoided the question.”

• Aurora Sentinel Editorial: Sen. Cory Gardner’s deflection on Trump’s treachery signals whom it is he now serves

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