Michael Hancock: Prostitution-ring story link an untrue smear, campaign manager says

• There is no proof it is the Romer campaign. It could be racists or Republicans (or combination of those two Rs). The media should not have printed this story without more evidence or quoting a credible source. It was irresponsible journalism.

• But how do you know this journal entry is even real?

• Actually, the police rarely arrest johns -- almost never. CO just passed a law that will hopefully change that, but it has not gone into effect yet.

• I heard the story was shopped to a number of news sources for weeks. I heard this from a reputable reporter friend.

• I don't care who wins this race, but cell phone numbers are given out on business cards very easily these days. They are also on facebook. Getting someone's cell phone number is pretty easy for most people.

• Funny post, Tommy.

• This is good ,   What hooker keeps records of here john's ?????????? Is she paying her taxes too????????  Such a noble citizen. 

• So he cheated on his wife and paid and escort...we all still love Charile Sheen and he does that regualry...oh....wait...he got fired....oh well.

• At this point I don't really care! Without this coming from a credible source--- who cares? It shouldn't have even made the news cycle at this date.   I regret that this campaign was such mudsling fest...and yes in a political fight almost anything goes at the national and state level--so it seems these days --but at a city level?  Please! Do political advisors not get it???  Or friends who think they are helping by putting out negative comments or actions?  People are sick of it!!!!!!  (even at the state and national level)   Regardless of the fact that you as a candidate might not be directly responsible, if is looking like it could be linked in public opinion to you then have some balls and stand up and lead your supporters by asking  them to stop immediately and let everyone know you don’t support the behavior.  Don’t stand up only after (and then half-heartedly) other leaders begin to pull away from you for running a dirty campaign.    The Job as Mayor & This Campaign: Romer political career & government service work has been so short...and though he has been typically positive in the past, I don’t see it as the case now.  He perhaps isn’t up for this job, and would have done better to build his career first and then jump ship for a new position later.  I feel sorry for him that he has chosen poor advisors and workers that might have lost sight of the big picture just to win the race!  This campaign has ruined my image of Chris Romer, with whom I once saw as a good freshman political leader with a lot of potential.  In the past I have worked closely with more than one of his family members and I will always have the utmost respect for their character.  Not knowing him, he could have got an easy thumb up from me, but for now this is no longer the case.    If Chris Romer wins, he has a great deal of cleanup work to do within the Denver community -at all levels--especially the average citizens!  I hope he is strong & mature enough to make amends with Michael Hancock & others, in addition to all of who are now questioning his integrity & leadership skills.      To Michael Hancock’s campaign:  Even when pressure or feeling the urge to defend him on this one...perhaps you should just take the higher ground at this point and ignore it.    Say it is true, at this point I really don't care. Has he ever been formally charged or under investigation for this?  Do you trust an escort service?   Michael Hancock still has a longer & stronger performance record than Romer.  No man is a saint.  Not to mention so many political leaders have had mistresses and affairs (father, R.R.) and somehow I don’t recall the general public or media calling him out for his behavior.  Perhaps it was just respect for his father & his privacy.  Who knows?  I am not that interested at this point.    Needless to say, I am just disappointed & realistic that there is work to be done in the City of Denver-- So can we please just have whoever is elected be a strong leader who is capable of bringing people together to get work done in a proactive & positive manner?

• I think Boyles has some 'splaining to do.

• Maybe he used his cell number so the prostitution service wouldn't be calling his house or office.

• so many democrats get a pass when it comes to sex scandals  How about pretending they are Republicans so the press  will go after them equally  WHAT DO YOU THINK??

• Ok, so someone wanted to get back at Mr. Hancock or use his name because it sounds like something out of a bad porn movie. That's possible. But that that same person would have Mr. Hancock's cell number as well? Unlikely. This story deserves to be more thoroughly investigated with real journalism.

• IF this story is not true, than how did the prostitution ring get Mr. Hancock's cell phone number? Remember, this is a very popular, relatively powerful City Councilman's cell number--it's most likely unlisted as most cell numbers are, and he doesn't give out to just anyone. Volunteers at Mr. Hancock's office do not get his cell phone number, so how did the prostitution ring...unless he gave it to them? Obviously, this story needs more research. But it's fair to extrapolate that where there's smoke, there's fire. Somehow they got his cell number, and it wasn't from looking up the Councilman on Google.com.

• You know, no one here knows the whole truth, and not even half of it We can all only hope we get it right - and right now, not later, and way not long after the fact (like in California).  What is important is the truth, period. Unfortunately the only thing I am finally sure of is the absolutely awesome ability among politicians, celebrities and sports figures (and their supporters) to be no more or less human than the rest of us as they start to believe in their own legends, and  to tell, repeat and live complex lies, all to maintain their positions of power. And most of us - or at least enough of us - tend to want to believe in them, and I'm as guilty as the next one.I didn't really believe Bill Clinton but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. He looked into the camera and told me he didn't do it. Fool me once.I once listened to John Edwards on tour in Colorado a few years back and believed him.  Fool me twice.I happened to be living in California for a bit and listened to Arnold - and Maria - when he was running and I while didn't believe him initially, I did let Maria's impassioned rebuttals get to me a little. Fool me 3 times.Tiger? Man.Not hard to think of so many, many others who looked us right in the eye and tried to fool us, told us gold medal lies  and then begged forgiveness when the truth inevitably was finally allowed to surface. Go ahead, take just a minute and see how many you can think of without even trying. Here's my very abridged list just off the top of my head:Ted HaggardFloyd LandisMel GibsonEliot SpitzerRichard NixonLance Armstrong (pending, but seems just a matter of time)Larry Craig (not sure he ever admitted it or asked forgiveness, but still)Barry BondsMark McGwireKobe BryantRoger Clemons (pending as well, but what do you think?)I'm stopping here. Such a very depressing Hall of Shame. Needs its own wiki page. In the end you can only feel for their spouses and children. But remember how they all lied with such similarly convincing vigor? What energy and ambition! Some web sites now make a habit of tracking Sarah Palin's daily lies. Yet her supporters clearly don't care, and she has made an impressive living out of being really consistently great at selling her version of reality. From my view the truth seems a fairly low priority in her world, yet it seems like, to her, if she thinks it, well, it must be true.So all this stuff about Michael and the two prostitutes who (I hear) want to tell their stories about him, his diehard supporters are going to claim it is all BS, and will hope to God that it is.The rest of us can only go with our own guts, unless the news media steps up and makes an effort to shed some light on the whatever the truth is. (I heard from a friend in one of the local news stations that Michael's lawyers have so far been putting understandably massive pressure on the local media to suppress the story. Broadcasters as a rule tend to be pretty easy to backdown anyway, so we may never get a true investigation, at least not before the election. And the two main sources are two women who are apparently quite willing to tell on camera their stories about their time with Michael. But they are prostitutes I hear. Makes it tough for the newsroom lawyers to feel confident. Haggard's masseur got similar respect at first, remember? And we all know what happened to Anita Hill...)So, what's the truth? I'd really like to know. Before Tuesday, please.

• Rather vote for a man who knows how to order up a proper sex industry worker than a prude. Just sayin. Bet Romer turns out like a Teddy Haggardy... amen.

• Goodness gracious!

• From the Complete Colorado link:  "The documents were obtained from a well-placed source intimate with the daily dealings within the business." Well, that's ironclad, and infinitely more credible than the Department of Justice or the Denver Police. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I have your well-placed source right here!

• Questioning the police as you suggest may be a necessary, but certainly not a sufficient step in determining the truth. One of the job requirements for a police officer is to tell the truth when writing a police report. In the last 3 months, 8 Denver police officers have been fired for lying on police reports and in sworn testimony. With this record of Denver police not doing their job, failure to make an arrest is not sufficient reason to conclude that Hancock is innocent. So far, a document has been presented as evidence of culpability. This is more than mere premise. The pedigree of this document is of interest, and so far, the media has not provided independent confirmation regarding pedigree. The media should be doing some research to confirm the alleged pedigree. Until that determination is made, judgment should be held as to whether or not this matter is a despicable campaign tactic. That is the truth. Also, apparently, some prostitution rings do keep such records, and some customers do provide their real phone numbers. As I recall, it is via such records that former governor Spitzer (D-NY) was caught, subsequently resigning in disgrace, and if I am not mistaken, Judge Nottingham was similarly caught.

• Now we know about Michael, but will Denver get a happy ending out of this election?

• Tell this to Judge Nottingham, pal. Stealth2  And a really, REALLY smart Denver voter would question A) where this list originated in the first place? Seriously, a pimp keeping an Excel sheet of his johns and transactions? Yeah, that's something he wants to keep on his hard drive.. Pimps and others street criminals are notorious for (among other thing) not leaving a paper trail. Anyone who even considers this as something other than a lame-ass last-minute campaign trick is too stupid to vote

• I'm curious to know why it is considered so "dirty" and/or "low down" to bring things to a surface when we are looking for someone who, in this case, is seeking our votes to be the mayor of the city we live in? I feel it is a crucial time for the truth to come out, now rather than later, when someone has already been elected and we, as city, have to go through the humiliation of finding out we did not do our research. If this is true, we DO NOT want someone like him being our Mayor. If it's not true, then hopefully there will be some sort of way to prove this and we all move forward in selecting the best candidate for the job!

• Good heavens!  The really fascinating thing here is that people think Mr. Hancock is a fool if they are to believe any of this  Under what circumstances would any politician give his real name in a situation like this?  Clearly, someone did something spiteful to avoid themself getting caught and this poor guy (Hancock) is now paying.  As for the extra marital affairs, I think the 'it's fairly well known' line is just another way to spread rumors.  This is all so sad and desperate.  In politics, a last minute move of this type is called a 'when did you stop beating your wife' caper. 

• Always be leery of a man who touts  a strong belief and faith in God over and over for political purposes........... Those are the politicians who are hiring prostitutes.....

• The Hancock campaign admitted that the phone number written down on the documents was indeed, Mr. Hancock's. It is fairly well know within Denver political circles and the Montbello area that Michael Hancock has had 2 extramarital affairs, with one resulting in a pregnancy and child.  In my opinion, he is a man who is always putting on a show and incredibly disingenious.  This story didn't surprise me in the least bit. 

• And a really, REALLY smart Denver voter would question A) where this list originated in the first place? Seriously, a pimp keeping an Excel sheet of his johns and transactions? Yeah, that's something he wants to keep on his hard drive.. Pimps and others street criminals are notorious for (among other thing) not leaving a paper trail. Anyone who even considers this as something other than a lame-ass last-minute campaign trick is too stupid to vote. As for his personal cell phone number, I'm sure a lot of people in the political circle in this city have that and one or two might be apt to supply it to someone else if there's something in it for them. C'mon, be smart.

• Wrong again.  Someone seeking the truth would ask the police why they haven't arrested Michael Hancock because, you know, solicitation of prostitution is a crime and arresting people for committing crimes is their job. The media should ignore the premise of this story until there is a factual basis for a claim that it is THE Michael Hancock.  Right now the premise is innuendo. Otherwise, the media can report on it right now as an unsubstantiated and despicable campaign tactic.  That is the truth.

• Strong post, James. Thanks for sharing your views.

• I did not think the Romer camp could get more negative, but I was wrong.  This is really low.

• Uh, someone seeking truth will not a) assume the Romer campaign had anything to do with the allegation, and b) assume the document was available all along. Instead, someone seeking truth would determine whether or not the document was always available, and only after determining that it was, then be suspicious that Romer (or some shill) is engaging in the unsubstantiated mudslinging of a failed campaign.  The burden is on the media to be impartial and investigate the matter to ascertain truth. That is actually in their job description, hence the burden is on them.

• thank you

• This story was investigated by Brain Moss some time ago.  How desperate and dirty can those in the Romer campaign get?  If Chris had nothing to do with it (because no one told him anything about it); I can't trust those he would choose as staff.  It's sorry and sad that they (Romer's staff)  hva sunk so low.

• Uh, you have the burdens backwards.  The really smart Denver voters are going to wonder what is the perception that the Romer campaign would like to create in the minds of Denver voters by concocting this story the week before the election. For example:  if these documents were available all along, why weren't the disclosed early on in the campaign to allow inquiry into their authenticity?  Why would they be held onto so long by the Romer campaign until the last week?  Or, is this part of the continuing and unsubstantiated mudslinging of a failing Romer campaign? Or is "Handcock" the porn name of someone who would use Michael Hancock's phone number to deflect any inquiry into their nefarious activities?  I mean really?, do you think we're stupid enough to believe that someone buying a prostitute would actually give out their real phone number? Just when I think the Romer campaign can't go any lower, they do.  What's up next?, a blurry photo of someone who looks like Michael Hancock nude jello-wrestling with a unicorn?

• versus

• Well, a smart Denver voter will likely note both that a) if the allegation is true, then Hancock's denial (thru Dreyer) is negative, false, shameful, and ugly, and b) if the allegation is false, then Dreyer's assessment is correct. So, the really smart Denver voters are actually going to wonder what is the truth, verses what is the perception that Dreyer would like to create in the minds of Denver voters. And the really, really smart Denver voters will be watching the media to see who is trying to surface the truth, verses either a) be a shill for one side or the other, or b) try to hide, ignore, or silence the truth.

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