Republicans demand apology for Putin portrait

A staffer of state House Speaker Crisanta Duran, DDenver, helped sneak a portrait of Vladimir Putin into the state Capitol to hang it in a spot reserved for President Donald Trump, according to Senate Republicans.

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 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, helped 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 could not be reached Friday night for comment.