Campaign

Markey files complaint over Musgrave’s ethics ads

by Brendan Sasso - 09/24/08 7:22 PM ET

Democratic candidate Betsy Markey has filed a complaint with Colorado officials, alleging that her opponent, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R), violated the law by making “demonstrably false” claims in recent TV ads.

Musgrave has aired two ads in recent weeks accusing Markey of violating ethics rules and getting “rich on non-competitive Halliburton-style government contracts.”

Markey was part-owner of her family’s technology firm, Syscom, when she became an aide to Sen. Ken Salazar (D) in January 2005. In October 2005, the Senate Ethics Committee advised Markey that as long as she owned part of the business, it could not solicit contracts from any government agency that she might deal with as part of her job.

Markey turned over her share of the business to her husband, and Syscom received $1.4 million in federal contracts during the time that she worked as an aide.

Jason Thielman, a Musgrave campaign spokesman, said: “The issue at hand is Markey’s reckless disregard for the Ethics Committee and government regulation.”

Thielman said that Markey violated the Federal Acquisition Register and the Senate Ethics Manual by owning Syscom when it was awarded government contracts.

“Giving the company to your husband across the table does not count as divesting,” Thielman said.

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A review by the Government Services Agency found no evidence that Markey intervened on behalf of Syscom or that any of the contracts were obtained improperly.

Ben Marter, a spokesman for the Markey campaign, said, “Musgrave has not been able to produce a shred of evidence” of wrongdoing.

“Musgrave needs to apologize to voters of the 4th congressional district for lying instead of representing them,” Marter said.

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