An independent commission cleared Congressman Mike Coffman yesterday of alleged ethics violations stemming from his days as secretary of state, leading Coffman to claim he was maligned and the ethics watchdog group that accused him to balk. Colorado's Independent Ethics Commission cleared Coffman, the Republican who replaced Tom Tancredo in the 6th Congressional District, of wrongdoing in two cases, including one claiming Coffman had crossed an ethical line when Phase Line Strategies handled his 2008 congressional campaign at the same time it represented Premier, a voting machine vendor under intense scrutiny to conduct a fair election, according to the Denver Business Journal. Coffman later certified Premier's machines. Westword notes that the nonprofit Colorado Ethics Watch was riled by the ethics commission's ruling, claiming it "set the bar dangerously low for ethics in the state." Coffman, meanwhile, called the charges, which were raised by Colorado Ethics Watch, "outrageous lies" unsupported by "a shred of evidence," according to The Colorado Independent. Read the entire report for yourself (via Westword).