DOJ investigation puts Colorado election anomalies under magnifying glass

The Department of Justice recently told Colorado elections officials it wants to review all the data from the 2024 election. And whatever still remains available from 2020.

And state officials have claimed it’s a “fishing expedition” to try to help Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who was convicted and sentenced to years in prison essentially for trying to salvage a copy of the 2020 vote data when faced with orders from a state officials to erase the details.

Peters was a conservative in the far-left state, where the all-Democrat state Supreme Court partisanly tried to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot. Where virtually all of the top state leaders in the governor’s office and legislature are virulently anti-Trump.

Where leftists in population centers like Denver and Boulder openly advocate for Americans’ rights to be violated in order to protect illegal alien criminals. Where abortion was made a state constitutional “right” and the state constitution’s protection for voters against massive overtaxing plans routinely is undermined.

For example, Democrat lawmakers, faced with constitutional limits on raising “taxes,” routinely hike them anyway and then simply call them “fees.” For example, state residents who license vehicles and pay taxes have to pay a “fee” for roads and bridges. Visitors to the state using the same roads and bridges don’t pay that “fee.”

It was the Denver Post that recently promoted the “fishing expedition” claim and said Matt Crane, of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said the request for information is unprecedented.

However, it was a report at Complete Colorado that pointed out how the state’s election details are now under the spotlight, and how Democrat Secretary of State Jena Griswold doesn’t like it, condemning the federal move as an attempt to “push their ridiculous disinformation and lies to the American public.”

The report noted the multiple “missteps” by Griswold that now could come under review.

The report explained, “A recent National Public Radio (NPR) report, republished by Colorado Public Radio (CPR) and heavily biased in Griswold’s favor, called the request ‘an unprecedented amount of election data’ driven by Justice Department review of ‘cases targeting the president’s political allies’ and identified the DOJ as catering to Trump’s ‘desire to exert more power over state voting processes.'”

Explained the report, “The framing of the coverage is unsurprising given that both NPR and CPR have themselves been the subject of headlines as of late as they push back against Trump’s ongoing effort to end federal taxpayer subsidies for public radio. However, ongoing problems under Griswold during her tenure appear to be at least as likely a reason for the request.”

The report cites Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Brita Horn explaining how the review is warranted because of Griswold’s problems.

“Our secretary of state gaslights voters with her ‘Gold Standard’ narrative while she oversees leaked passwords. She has no one to blame but herself and her irresponsible team for the investigation. We need the truth about what happens in her department, and in our elections,” Horn charged.

The DOJ’s request includes “any record required to be preserved under Title 52, Section 20701 of the U.S. code, which covers retention of records for elections involving federal offices” as well as certification that no record required to be preserved has been deleted or destroyed.

And all details on procedures for Colorado’s votes.

Griswold, to NPR, claimed the group of “them” is using the federal government “to undermine our elections and our democracy.”

“NPR reported that Griswold suspects the request to be tied to the prosecution of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, with NPR calling Peters a ‘folk hero’ to those who deny the 2020 election results,” the report explained.

But it noted left out of NPR’s claims were the “inconsistencies and incompetence within Griswold’s office,” such as her decision to put voting system passwords for the state’s systems online, where they were leaked, and that was followed by an attempt “to cover up the leak with no intention of making it public.”

Earlier, Griswold had sent postcards to some 30,000 non-residents, telling them how to register to vote.

The notifications said, “Make sure your voice is heard this November” and directed people where to go register to vote. Griswold claimed a formatting error was responsible for the instructions to aliens, some illegal aliens, on how to vote.

“She has also been repeatedly criticized for using her position for political purposes on a national level as well as her inability to keep staff,” the report added.

GOP political consultant Dick Wadhams told CBS News in an interview that the 64 count clerks on Colorado are competent, and they run elections. But he said Griswold is “incompetent.”

In what may end up being related, Judicial Watch said Griswold’s office gave out incorrect numbers for those removed from the state’s registration lists due to address changes. The watchdog organization wanted its lawsuit over the dispute reopened because of the wrong numbers, but a leftist judge in the left-leaning federal court system in Colorado refused permission.

Griswold is a veteran political activist who was a “voter protection attorney” for Barack Obama’s campaign and she took action against Peters by suing her to prevent her from being able to oversee elections in her county.

Minority Republicans in the Colorado unsuccessfully sought to impeach Griswold over her verbal attacks on President Trump.