Senator asks for investigation into Newsome's expenses

Colorado state Sen. John Morse on Monday asked police to investigate why it took District Attorney John Newsome six months to reimburse taxpayers for his trip to a football game.

Morse, D-Colorado Springs and former police chief of Fountain, mailed a letter to Colorado Springs Police Chief Richard Myers alleging "Newsome committed a felony by using public money for private purposes."

Morse based his request on a June 24 Gazette report outlining Newsome's October trip to South Bend, Ind., to watch his alma matter, the University of Southern California, play Notre Dame. The game came at the end of a trip to Chicago in which Newsome and Colorado Springs police detective Derek Graham interviewed witnesses in a death penalty case involving the killing of a Colorado Springs police officer.

Newsome initially let stand charges for hotel rooms, a rental car, gas and a per-diem allowance totaling $699 for the day of the game, a day when no witness interviews were conducted. A KOAA reporter asked for Newsome's travel records April 1. Newsome wrote El Paso County a check for $584.90 on April 24, according to records obtained by The Gazette.

Newsome has denied any wrongdoing and said he flagged the trip for his accounting department so he could pay it back "when we were getting the books ready for the annual audit," which is why he didn't pay it back until April.

"Senator Morse's claims are baseless, without merit, and politically timed and motivated. It is unfortunate that someone in his position has chosen to engage in cheap political theater," Newsome said in an e-mail response. "This is simply a Democrat trying to influence a Republican primary, and it is not his first attempt."

Newsome, up for re-election, faces former Deputy District Attorney Dan May in the Aug. 12 Republican primary. The Democrats haven't put forth a candidate.

A police spokesman said Monday that Myers hasn't received the request yet.

"Chief Myers is aware of the impending request," said Sgt. Creighton Brandt. "When he receives the formal request, he will evaluate it and make a determination at that time."

However, Graham's supervisor, Lt. Mark Smith, has said the police department never has felt the need to investigate.

"We had every belief that the DA would account for the travel expenses appropriately," Smith said before the June 24 news story appeared. "We had no reason to think otherwise."

Morse said he was on vacation at the time the Gazette story ran, or he would have requested the investigation earlier.

"Newsome converted public funds, those used to reimburse county employees and elected officials for bona fide government travel, into his private use - paying for expenses related to attending a football game," Morse wrote in the letter. "When Newsome paid the county $584.90, it was restitution."

Morse publicly urged Newsome to resign after a KOAA hidden camera investigation in May caught Newsome drinking about 130 ounces of beer over about five hours and then driving a county-owned vehicle.