DENVER — While Secretary of State Jena Griswold claims that a recent request for election data by the Department of Justice (DOJ) is nothing more than an attempt to “push their ridiculous disinformation and lies to the American public,” legacy media covering the request seem to have forgotten Griswold’s many missteps and questionable conduct during her tenure overseeing Colorado elections.
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.”
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.
Colorado Republican Party Chairwoman Brita Horn said the investigation is warranted considering the issues Griswold has had over her two terms.
“Our secretary of state gaslights voters with her “Gold Standard” narrative while she oversees leaked passwords,” Horn said. “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.”
In the recent request, the DOJ asked for:
- Any record required to be preserved under Title 52, Section 20701 of the US code, which covers retention of records for elections involving federal offices.
- A certification that no record required for preservation has been deleted, destroyed or altered from its original format.
- All statutes, regulations, written guidance, internal policies, or database user manuals that set out the procedures Colorado has put in place relating to implement the requirements of title 52, Section 20701.
The DOJ also asked for Griswold’s office to preserve any records relating to the November 2020 election if they are still in her custody.
“We are seeing them use the apparatus of the federal government to undermine our elections and our democracy,” Griswold told NPR. “And I would assume that this is more of the same.”
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.
However, what NPR didn’t report on is all of the inconsistencies and incompetence within Griswold’s office over the past few years, including the most notable bombshell that Griswold leaked voting equipment passwords just prior to the 2024 election and then attempted to cover up the leak with no intention of making it public.
It was only after a Teller County resident downloaded a spreadsheet from the secretary of state’s website was the leak exposed.
Prior to that, in 2022, Griswold mailed postcards to roughly 30,000 non-citizens living in the state notifying them on how they could register to vote.
Griswold said then that the cards, which read in big letters on the front, “Make sure your voice is heard this November” and directing people where to go register to vote, were a mistake, claiming it was a formatting error that caused the system not to flag the residents as ineligible.
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 fact of the matter is that … she doesn’t run elections; 64 county clerks do,” GOP political consultant Dick Wadhams told CBS News in 2024 when Republicans in the legislature attempted to oust Griswold from office. “And I will tell you, those 64 county clerks? … They are competent, and they run the elections. She rides on their work. But she is incompetent. She has staff run through her office constantly. They stay there for a while then they leave because they can’t stand her.”
Complete Colorado will continue to follow developments in this request.
