December 21, 2017 03:06 PM UTC

Cynthia Coffman: "I Didn't Blackmail Anybody"

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman is seeking the Republican nomination for Governor in 2018, and as we’ve discussed before in this space, she has thus far proven to be a remarkably-terrible candidate.

After more than a year of hinting at the possibility of a run for Governor, Coffman finally announced her campaign the day after the November election (a decidedly odd day to announce anything). In subsequent interviews, Coffman has a) Completely bungled her position on abortion, b) Admitted that she doesn’t have a campaign manager and doesn’t forsee hiring one anytime soon, and c) Fostered a baffling adversarial relationship with the media by insisting that reporters submit all questions about her campaign via email. When she does talk to reporters, Coffman has demonstrated a fascinating tendency to offer up absolutely horrible quotes, as this recent story from The South Metro Villager makes painfully clear:

The attorney general was the subject of inner-party gossip in 2015 when she was accused of attempting to blackmail then-state Republican Chair Steve House over an alleged extramarital affair. Although Coffman would not explain what actually happened in the fracas, she insists it was mischaracterized.

“It was dealt with and the party moved forward. Steve House and I are on good terms,” she said. “It was an emotional time for everybody. I didn’t blackmail anybody.” [Pols emphasis]

We’ve seen and heard a lot of stupid things from politicians over the years, and this quote from Coffman is absolutely at the top of the list. There are a lot of different ways that Coffman could respond to predictable questions about her involvement in the 2015 “Coffmangate” scandal — something she has been asked about for years — but she always seems to make sure to use the word “blackmail” in her answers. Reporters don’t have to worry about whether or not to introduce the b-word into a story about Coffman, because she’ll always do it for them! [mantra-pullquote align=”right” textalign=”left” width=”33%”]”If you look up the legal definition of blackmail this doesn’t fit it.”

– Cynthia Coffman, June 2015 [/mantra-pullquote]

This is not the first time that Coffman has fallen into this particular hole. We noted in a story back in June 2015 that “Cynthia Coffman Can’t Stop Copping to Blackmail” whenever she was asked about the scandal involving her and former State Republican Party Chair Steve House (Coffman reportedly “encouraged” House to resign as GOP Chair just a few months after she had supported his candidacy in a long-running soap opera that drew national media attention).

One of the most memorable Coffman quotes during the scandal came during a Republican Party Executive Committee meeting on the matter when Coffman bluntly stated, “If you look up the legal definition of blackmail this doesn’t fit it.” This was an incredible thing for any politician to say, let alone the chief law enforcement officer in the entire State of Colorado. That Coffman seems incapable of learning from her past mistakes is yet another ominous sign for a campaign that was already in big trouble.

“Blackmail!”