Denver Post/Greeley Tribune Story Maligns Candidate

A story entitled "Belittled case drew Senate candidate Buck a rebuke from boss" was printed last week by the Denver Post and Greeley Tribune. The story is a follow up to comments made by Buck's opponent, Jane Norton, on a recent radio talk show. The story, which claims to attempt to unveil the "cloud" under which Senate Candidate Ken Buck left the US Attorney's Office ten years ago, ends on the Tribune website by saying, "others said those conversations very likely compromised the case. Only one of the three men initially indicted on felony charges was convicted, and that was for a misdemeanor. He is now a Buck campaign contributor." The Tribune then offers a link to the Denver Post's website for the rest of the story.

Unfortunately, the Tribune did not cover the fact that the case Buck was accused of maligning to defense attorneys had been rejected by the previous US Attorney and every senior prosecutor in the US Attorney's office at that time as being a weak case that shouldn't be prosecuted. Two years later, a change in US Attorney and the Columbine Tragedy brought the case, which involved alleged undercover straw purchases of firearms at a Denver area pawn shop, back to the surface. Ultimately, the case was prosecuted by then US Attorney Tom Strickland and prosecutors that started when he was appointed. Three men were indicted on felony charges. As predicted by Buck and other senior prosecutors, the case ended with a single misdemeanor conviction for a paperwork error. The penalty: one day of probation. It is unknown how much the US Attorney's Office spent in the two additional years it prosecuted the case.

Buck did have an off-the-cuff conversation with a defense attorney in the case, who he knew socially, and let slip the fact that there had been memorandums written by the prosecutors outlining the weaknesses of the case. Buck received a written reprimand for his conversation with the defense and admits it was a mistake.

The party who was convicted, and presumably served his one-day of probation, is active in the Republican Party and has contributed $700 to the Buck campaign. Readers comments on the Tribune website accuse the Tribune and the Denver Post of being biased and "running an unpaid political commercial" for Buck's opponents.