John Hickenlooper

John Hickenlooper’s career has involved several public controversies, though he has not been convicted of criminal fraud, bribery, or corruption. In 2008, Hickenlooper paid a $52,486 settlement to the IRS following an audit of conservation easement tax deductions he claimed between 2002 and 2007. The IRS questioned the valuations of these easements, which had provided him with $1.1 million in federal tax write-offs. In June 2020, the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission found Hickenlooper violated state ethics laws as governor. He was fined $2,750 for accepting a private jet flight from a corporate donor and receiving luxury transportation and meals in Italy. During these proceedings, he was held in contempt for initially defying a subpoena to testify, though he later complied. Four other ethics complaints filed against him were dismissed. Separately, a 2020 investigation found his administration accepted over $1 million in private corporate and nonprofit donations to fund office initiatives with limited oversight, though no laws were broken and no specific policy violations were identified. A 2022 FEC review dismissed all allegations regarding potential campaign finance violations, closing the file with no further action.