Dear Cory:
Happy holidays to you and your family. We’ve got some catching up to do.
Late this summer, at the Wynkoop of all places, two of your top staffers and I attended a fantastic anniversary bash for Colorado’s best and most independent news outlet.
The food was free, but not the booze.
I bought Casey and Jarrod cocktails, and they told me how much you wanted back on my radio show.
Quid pro quo in LoDo? Not so. I just like those guys.
Those two, and you, gave my son, Sam, then 15, and me a special behind-the-curtains tour of the U.S. Capitol on July 28, 2017. That magnificent day at the Capitol was capped off by an extraordinary Salem media soiree.
I had you hard booked on my show Oct. 12, 2019, but you backed out late. You’ve been lying low, a smart move since you’re about to be a juror on the most important trial in American history.
That stirs my instincts as a Colorado trial lawyer. The first part of my career was spent making winning arguments to liberal jurors reluctant to convict. Remember, I was a Denver prosecutor for 16 years. That’s different than prosecuting in Yuma, Kiowa or El Paso counties.
There’s so much I need to say to you. Thank goodness, I can do so here at The Colorado Sun. However, I have a hard word count, so like a @realDonaldTrump tweet with ellipses, you may have to wait for the rest of this letter. But it’s coming.
When we first met, you were a state representative from House District 63 with a well-earned reputation for working across the aisle. Your intelligence and affability made you a star. You got elected to the U.S. House and then, in November 2014, you won your prized U.S. Senate seat.
READ: Colorado Sun opinion columnists.
On July 12, 2014, you were on the debut episode of The Craig Silverman Show. Other guests were Bob Beauprez, Pamela Geller and Henry Bushkin (Johnny Carson’s lawyer). Back then, you and Bob were darlings of Colorado Republicans. Salem Colorado loved you, too. Back then.
We both graduated from CU Law School and have families that go back generations in Colorado. We were both Democrats when we were younger. We watched the Dems tack too far left, so we left long ago, to find more amenable associations.
Early in 2015, I publicly dismissed Donald Trump as a bad guy for whom I would not vote. I did so based in large part on his disparagement of Pamela Geller right after she’d been the victim of attempted murder in Garland, Texas.
But then I gave Trump a second chance, as did Geller. If she could forgive, so could I. Trump got my vote because I detested the Iran Nuke Deal and thought Hillary was too far left and corrupt.
Back in 2015, you went further than me against The Donald. You labeled Trump a buffoon. After he got the GOP nomination, Trump’s Access Hollywood tape made you jump from the Trump Train in late 2016 and not give him your vote.
Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, went further rhetorically than either of us. In December 2015, Buck said: “Trump’s proposal (the Muslim Ban) violates the Constitution, the values of our nation, the Republican Party platform, and my conscience. He should withdraw from the Presidential race. He is a fraud.”
When Buck later decided Trump would reluctantly get his vote, he explained: “We have a system of checks and balances in this country which allows Congress and the Supreme Court to rein in the power of the president,” and that’s what Congress may have to do with “either president.”
Times sure do change. Buck’s now walking lockstep with the House GOP lemmings. Buck didn’t even show up to hear witnesses I’ve found so compelling. Thank goodness for the Senate.
Despite obstruction, Adam Schiff and the Dems have made their case. Devin Nunes, the GOP and POTUS have no actual defenses.
Their only defense strategy is the Trump/Buck approach: Don’t watch. Look somewhere else. These witnesses are Deep State Never Trumpers. Brand it a sham, a hoax, a fraud. Call it a coup and a witch hunt perpetrated by human scum.
Some will do anything to avoid confronting (and broadcasting) the reality of this Ukrainian Shakedown engineered by Donald J. Trump.
As a responsible juror, you, Cory Gardner, must sit there without distraction. You will take an oath. You are duty-bound to consider the evidence and render a verdict based thereon.
On Oct. 21, 2019, I printed out Ambassador William Taylor’s 15-page sworn opening testimony, read it word for word, and realized its gravity. Taylor laid open Trump’s despicable Ukrainian Shakedown.
Unpunished, we are headed toward mobster rule, Trumpism, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, Putinism, corruption, criminality and constant media disinformation campaigns. Let’s not have this in America!
Study the evidence. Gather some courage. You may lose your job, but that’s OK. Some former colleagues will despise you, but you will have nothing but respect and admiration from me.
My son Sam votes in Colorado this November. You may win. And be an American hero.
Let’s look to the future. Think about our children and the awful messages this president delivers daily. Trump’s been caught committing major crimes. I have confidence in America, the Rule of Law and our Constitution. And in you ….
Craig Silverman is a former Denver Chief Deputy DA who also has worked in the media for decades. Craig is columnist at large for The Colorado Sun. He practices law at the Denver law firm of Springer & Steinberg, P.C.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization, and the opinions of columnists and editorial writers do not reflect the opinions of the newsroom. Read our ethics policy for more on The Sun’s opinion policy and submit columns, suggested writers and more to opinion@coloradosun.com.