CO: Legislator Takes Questionable Gift, Ducks Question, Gets Thrown Under Bus

In one of the stranger corruption tales to emerge this year, Colorado Rep. Bill Berens took a gift of $20,000 from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association, nominally for a "hole in one prize." Gifts of over $50 to legislators are illegal under Colorado law. Asked by email to explain the gift, Berens simply said that it wasn't a gift and said a Democrat at the event would vouch for him. It's a weird answer, but, when approached, his colleague Rep. Michael Garcia said the money looks bad even if it was a "prize" and not a "gift," summarizing, "That check looks bad, dude." Yeah, dude, it does.