Reporting on second investigation of censured DA Chambers, AP omitted her GOP affiliation

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

The Associated Press reported in a May 4 article that Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers is under investigation again after being publicly censured in December 2006 for abusing her powers of office to help an acquaintance. But the article did not identify Chambers as an elected Republican official and did not mention her acquaintance's GOP affiliation.

A May 4 Associated Press article -- published by the Montrose Daily Press and posted on KMGH 7News' website -- reported on the state Office of Attorney Regulation's second investigation of censured Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers, but it did not identify Chambers as an elected Republican official. The AP similarly omitted the GOP affiliation of Englewood Councilwoman Laurett Barrentine in reporting that “Chambers was publicly censured after a three-judge panel ruled” that she had abused the powers of her office to help Barrentine, whom it identified as an “acquaintance.”

From the May 4 Associated Press article, “DA faces discipline again just five months after public censure”:

LITTLETON, Colo. -- Five months after Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers was issued a public reprimand for her conduct, she's under investigation again by the Colorado Supreme Court Office of Attorney Regulation.

Chambers sent an e-mail to Chief Judge William Sylvester and other district officials regarding the thorny relationship between the DA's office and judges and public defenders in the 18th Judicial District. In it, Chambers said there could be “docket control problems” if a judge shows “overt hostility toward the People.”

[...]

In December 2006, Chambers was publicly censured after a three-judge panel ruled she violated a rule by questioning a collections attorney on behalf of Englewood Councilwoman Laurett Barrentine, an acquaintance of Chambers.

She faced disbarment but she was cleared of three serious charges that included threatening a criminal charge to gain an advantage in a civil case.

As Colorado Media Matters noted, The Denver Post on May 3 identified Chambers' party affiliation, noting that she was censured “for using her office to help a fellow Republican”:

Chambers, who received public censure in December for using her office to help a fellow Republican, is being investigated for an e-mail she sent that one attorney called a “veiled threat.”

If she is found to have violated rules of conduct again, she may receive more than the slap on the wrist she got last time, some said.