It’s been a couple of weeks since we checked in with our friends in the Denver Three — who, you’ll recall, were forced from a presidential event because of an anti-war bumper sticker — but the controversy continues unabated. (If you’re new to the story and want to catch up on the details, type “Denver” into my search engine to see my 11 previous posts on the subject.)
First, last week was the deadline for the White House to respond to the Freedom Of Information Act request sent by the Denver Three’s lawyers. In particular, the three requested answers to several fairly specific questions: who recruited the staffers for the event; who trained the event staff to screen and remove citizens based on their political beliefs; and who specifically directed the event staff to eject them on March 21. As of yesterday, the White House had not responded to the request.
Nevertheless, the Secret Service, which launched a criminal investigation into the matter on April 21, continues its examination of what transpired. Yesterday, agents spoke with the Denver Three directly.
Three Denver residents who were ousted from a presidential speech in March were interviewed by Secret Service agents Wednesday, as part of an investigation into the possible criminal impersonation of an agent by the man who removed them.
The three said that the two investigators told them they had interviewed three other people and were ready to wrap up their inquiry — until the three identified other possible witnesses to the March 21 incident.
There are, it appears, a series of people the three came in contact with at the event who were involved.
* There’s the man who wore a dark suit and an earpiece who ushered them out of the hall.
* There’s Jay Bob Klinkerman, chairman of the Colorado Young Republicans, who spoke with the Denver Three at the gate and told them, “Secret Service is coming down to talk to your group.”
* There’s a yet-unidentified man who checked the group’s names against a list before entering.
* There’s also a woman event staffer, possibly named Claudia, who was involved in removing them.
Interest continues to focus, of course, on the man who physically escorted the three from the event. As the Rocky Mountain News noted today, both the White House and the Secret Service know the man’s identity but won’t reveal it.