DENVER -- Embattled Arapahoe County Clerk Tracy Baker defended himself against allegations of wrongdoing and misconduct and turned the tables on his accusers.

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Tracy Baker Lashes Out At Commissioners

At a press conference on Thursday, Baker gave reporters copies of the minutes of the county commission meetings and a list of county employees and the bonuses they received.

Baker said the papers showed that he followed proper procedure in handing out promotions and raises. He also claimed that it also showed that the trials and tribulations he was going through is the result of asking the county commission about some "questionable" decisions.

Arapahoe County Commissioners have asked for Baker's resignation since October, when a county-funded investigation alleged that he mismanaged his office and misused taxpayer dollars and property to benefit a romantic relationship with Lisa Sale, his assistant chief deputy.

"I think it's dirty politics," Baker said.

The press conference was moved from his office to a nearby home after Baker pointed out that a woman sitting in the room was a paralegal with the Arapahoe County Attorney's Office. The woman, who refused to be identified, was sent by her boss to "listen in" on a press conference, Baker said, and is a perfect example of "the intimidation and humiliation" he's suffered.

"If I was doing something wrong, why didn't they tell me? But in the county policy manual, we followed it to the "t," Baker said.

Baker provided official county documents that show that the promotion and subsequent salary increases and bonuses for Sale -- his assistant deputy and girlfriend -- were not only normal, but much less than the bonuses some other county employees received.

In four years, Sale received a total of $3,000 in bonuses as well as some overtime.

But another county employee, whose salary was about $80,000 a year appears to have been granted a $78,000 bonus because the county reported his income as more than $150,000 in 2001, 7NEWS reported.

That's proof, Baker said, that the county is doing what it wants while putting his office on the line.

"You forget that we have families and kids ... but my life was lived in the media," Baker said.

The county commission said that they could not comment on allegations because they did not know what he was accusing them of because Baker refused to hold his press conference in the presence of the paralegal, who was sent to take notes for them.

A private investigator hired by the county found that Baker promoted his girlfriend twice, resulting in raises of more than $40,000 over three years, and that the two used county equipment to exchange hundreds of explicit e-mails on county time.

Baker admits to writing the e-mails but said that the county commissioners are blackballing him.