POLITICAL NOTEBOOK: Morse's apartment deal leads to ethics complaint
Sen. John Morse is fighting an ethics complaint over the sweet rent deal he's got on a Denver apartment, the Denver Post reports.
The Colorado Springs Democrat wound up in Republican sights after his crib was filmed in February by a Denver television crew who produced a light-hearted take on the bachelor senator's accommodations. Morse told the TV station he rents the place, complete with a bedroom jokingly dubbed "The Passion Pit," for $500 a month.
The low rent led to a complaint to the state's Independent Ethics Commission that's being backed by some El Paso County Republicans who allege that Morse might be breaking a law barring lawmakers from accepting gifts. The commission said Friday it won't comment on pending complaints, or release copies of the complaint. The man who The Post says filed the complaint, Brandon O'Dell, didn't return a phone call.
Morse said he is getting a good deal on rent from a friend of 31 years. But he's not getting the whole apartment for the $500 price tag. Morse said the payment gets him use of a bedroom and other common amenities, and he often shares the place with others. He said he sometimes gets the boot if his landlord needs both rooms of the two-bedroom place.
"It's a bogus complaint," Morse told The Gazette.
Morse, the Senate's majority leader, said the complaint is politically motivated by forces that want him defeated on November's ballot.
"They're going to do the best they can to make my life a living hell," he said.
He said the rent deal is actually saving taxpayers money because he uses it year-round rather than renting a hotel room in Denver on the state's dime.
Kyle Fisk, a Colorado Springs Republican who once ran for the state House, said Morse's rent deal has GOP tongues wagging.
" There's been some dialogue for the last couple of weeks ever since the story about John Morse and the Passion Pit," Fisk said.
See the video here -- Morse's apartment is profiled in the final three minutes of the show.
Read the Post's blog on the ethics complaint here.
