On Wednesday, Representative Mike Coffman wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking that "you initiate a Department of Justice investigation into this matter."
It's doubtful Holder will race to comply with this request, which is likely to be viewed by Democrats as purely partisan. Still, the letter, in combination with Senator Jeff Sessions mentioning of former ICE agent Cory Voorhis' firing during a hearing on Wednesday, suggests that the GOP assault on Villafuerte's nomination -- epitomized by Colorado Republican party chieftain Dick Wadhams calling Villafuerte, Governor Bill Ritter and the Denver District Attorney's Office liars -- is intensifying, not winding down.
The pressure continues to build. Here's Coffman's letter, which was obtained by KHOW:
The Honorable Eric Holder Attorney General 950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, D.C., 20530Dear Attorney General Holder:
I am sure you have some familiarity with the ongoing controversy surrounding the nomination of Stephanie Villafuerte to become Colorado's U.S. Attorney. I am writing to ask you initiate a Department of Justice investigation into this matter.
As you may know, former U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) agent Cory Voorhis was acquitted in federal court of charges relating to an incident of unauthorized database accessing, but he still lost his job with ICE. It is now apparent that the possibility at least exists that political efforts, taken to counter information gathered from this database, did themselves constitute unauthorized accessing. The possibility of this retaliatory infraction has assumed much greater weight due to several factors -- the prosecution of Mr. Voorhis, the multiplying questions arising from attempts to explain away the apparent database breach, and most significantly, the involvement of the nominee for U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, Stephanie Villafuerte.
My request for an investigation is to allow the matter to be fully explained to the satisfaction of the people of Colorado, who certainly deserve the right to be represented by judicial officials they have full faith in. I am not alone in seeking further clarification. The Denver Post has editorialized (11/.27/09) that "If Villafuerte is to become Colorado's chief federal law enforcement official, there ought to be a clear public understanding of her involvement in those events so that she doesn't assume office under a cloud." The Pueblo Chieftain (11/10/09) has said "The senators should not vote on the U.S. attorney nominee until this cloud of suspicion is cleared."
Both papers comment on the cloud of suspicion and confusion over this nominee due to the questions related to this database access. I urge you to investigate and shed some sunlight on the matter.
Sincerely,
Mike Coffman United States Congress
