FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 20, 2006
CONTACT: Michael Huttner
(303) 931-4547

Call for ‘Dirty O’Donnell’ to return money he solicited unethically:
Facts and questions on how Rick O’Donnell has already violated his own "ethics plan"

Denver: ProgressNowAction is contacting thousands of its members in Colorado’s 7th Congressional District today, asking them to call on Rick O’Donnell to follow his own rules of conduct and to return the money he solicited unethically from the industries he regulated when he was head of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs.

“That Rick O’Donnell is now becoming known as Dirty O’Donnell comes as no surprise given his hypocrisy on ethics,” stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNowAction.org. 

“Dirty O’Donnell is politics as its worst, he has already violated the first 3 points of his 12 point plan and it’s only April.  We call on Dirty O’Donnell to return the money he solicited unethically from the industries he regulated,” noted Huttner.

Below are O’Donnell’s first three points of his January 10, 2006 12-point plan on ethics followed by facts on how he violated his plan and questions that have not yet been answered by O’Donnell.

I.  O’Donnell’s Ethics Point #1:  “Who pays for lobbyists and how they peddle their influence should be open to complete disclosure.”

Fact:  O’Donnell continues to refuse requests to release the full list of industry lobbyists who, by attending his March 9, 2006 fundraiser, were given access to lobby the head of the EPA, in charge of pollution permitting and regulating their clients.

Question:  Why won’t O’Donnell disclose the full list of attendees to his lobbyists’ fundraiser?

II.  O’Donnell’s Ethics Point #2:  “The public deserves to know who is paying for what in Washington, D.C.”

Fact:  O’Donnell recently tried to cover up that one of the folks attending the fundraiser with the head of the EPA was the head lobbyist for Xcel Energy.  On that exact evening there was a hearing on an official EPA 45 day review of a pollution permit request by Xcel Energy.

Question: Why won’t O’Donnell disclose who paid for the head of the EPA’s plane tickets and stay for the fundraiser?  If he did not pay for all of it, did industry lobbyists pay for this fundraiser or other meetings that day to lobby the EPA?

III.  O’Donnell’s Ethics Point #3:  “Taxpayers should not have to subsidize those seeking to spend more tax money on their pet program.”

Fact: ProgressNowAction has discovered numerous incidents where O’Donnell has a history of misusing his office for political gain.  For example, as head of the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) he solicited dozens of contributions from companies he was regulating to pay off his debt he accrued from running for Congress. (call us for specifics as the list as the list is growing by the hour)

Question: Will O’Donnell return the money he solicited unethically from the industries he regulated?

------------

ProgressNowAction contacted its members to call for O’Donnell return the money he solicited unethically from industries he regulated at www.progressnowaction.org/dirtyodonnell.

###

ProgressNow is a nonpartisan, grassroots media nerve center which mission is to be a strong credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems.

For more interviews, quotes or sources, please call Michael Huttner at 303-931-4547.