An aide to state House Speaker Crisanta Duran, D-Denver, helped a liberal political group sneak a portrait of Vladimir Putin into the state Capitol to hang it in a spot reserved for President Donald Trump.
The incident caused an uproar last month, and now Republicans are demanding a public apology for the political prank.
On Friday, state Senate President Kevin J. Grantham, R-Cañon City, said the hanging of the Putin portrait violated a longstanding tradition of not using public spaces in the statehouse for partisan protests or displays.
“Political pranks are one thing, but it crosses a line, in my opinion, when public spaces in the Capitol are misused and abused the way they were in this case,” Grantham said in a news release. “This building belongs to all the people of Colorado and I’m frankly shocked that anyone who works on staff here — and works for the top Democrat in the House, no less — would be a party to something as inappropriate and over the line as this.”
At the time the Putin portrait was placed, the group that collects private donations for the portraits of U.S. presidents at the state Capitol hadn’t received any money to hang Trump’s picture. Putin’s portrait was removed by a tour guide, but not before state Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder, tweeted a picture.
After the July 26 prank, Grantham spearheaded an effort to raise $10,000 to secure a Trump portrait to hang in the empty space reserved for it.
The staffer, who was not named by officials, helped ProgressNow Colorado sneak the portrait into the building by using her staff swipe card to bypass security checkpoints — actions that prompted the State Patrol to revoke her access, the release said.
Duran on Friday night described the controversy as a personnel issue and said that the staffer has been disciplined. She did not offer an apology.
“This was an act that was not sanctioned by the House leadership office, and is now a personnel issue that is being dealt with internally,” Duran said in a written statement. “The employee has been spoken to by State Patrol and our office, and disciplinary action has been taken. The security of the Capitol is of the utmost importance and we value the dedication and lengths State Patrol goes to ensure the safety of all those who enter the Capitol.”
9News, which first reported the development, identified the staffer as Katie March and published a written statement from her: “I saw this as a harmless prank but didn’t think through the potential impact of my actions on our building security. I sincerely apologize to my colleagues and to State Patrol for my actions.”
ProgressNow Executive Director Ian Silverii said his organization “felt awful” that the staffer lost her security clearance, but added he hopes the prank raised awareness over the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“Next time,” he said in a statement, “we’ll use the front door.”