COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. _ Colorado House Democrats began the process to expel Colorado state Rep. Steve Lebsock on Tuesday after House Majority Leader KC Becker of Boulder announced that three allegations of sexual harassment filed against him have been found credible by a third-party investigator.
The report's conclusions were announced before the full House Tuesday morning by Becker, who was put in charge of the Lebsock matter late last year and was the liaison with the Employers Council as it conducted the investigation.
Rep. Matt Gray, a Broomfield Democrat, had readied a resolution on Lebsock's expulsion. He said that one question is whether the report, which is confidential, would be released to members of the House so they would be able to make an informed decision on the expulsion vote.
Lebsock is finishing his third term in the House and is running for state treasurer.
On Nov. 10, KUNC-FM's Bente Birkeland broke the story that nine lawmakers, staffers and lobbyists had accused Lebsock of harassing or intimidating behavior or making unwanted sexual advances.
Lebsock initially apologized for his actions, but then retracted that apology and has remained defiant, refusing calls from Colorado Speaker of the House Crisanta Duran, Gov. John Hickenlooper and others to resign.
Three formal complaints were filed against Lebsock, and a third-party group, the Employers Council, was hired to investigate those allegations along with others made against three Senate Republicans _ Sens. Jack Tate of Centennial, Larry Crowder of Alamosa and Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs _ and Democratic Rep. Paul Rosenthal of Denver.
The three complaints that led to Tuesday's actions included one from Democratic Rep. Faith Winter, of Westminster, who told KUNC in November that Lebsock tried to get her to leave a bar with him after an end-of-session party in 2016.
Former legislative aide Cassie Tanner filed a complaint in January alleging Lebsock tried to unbutton her shirt at a Young Democrats' event in 2015.
"I know what Rep. Lebsock did that night and so does he," Tanner wrote in an email to Colorado Politics. "This was also not the only incident of inappropriate sexual remarks or behavior directed at me by Steve. In another instance at an event he made lewd remarks about my breasts and the dress I was wearing. He was visibly drunk and I extricated myself from the situation as quickly as possible."
The third complaint was from lobbyist Holly Tarry, who alleged Lebsock made several unwanted sexual advances between 2013 and 2016.
Lebsock paid for and took a lie-detector test in December that he claimed proved his innocence, although the questions addressed only the allegations made by Winter, not the other eight women. He also filed a defamation lawsuit against Winter.
