El Paso County state Sen. Pete Lee dismissed concerns Tuesday about voter fraud in comments supporting a resolution that Democrats put forward supporting the now-failed voting bills in Congress. However, newly unearthed audio suggests Lee might want to look in the mirror.
"What we are being told is to protect the integrity of the system, to prevent voter fraud, to prevent people coming in who are not registered to vote to come in and vote. Well I would suggest that the voter fraud argument is a fraud itself." pic.twitter.com/tj77vpnzgq
— Senator Pete Lee (@PeteLeeColorado) January 18, 2022
Audio obtained by Colorado Peak Politics reveals a clearly nervous Lee discussing Pam Zubeck’s June 2020 story in the Colorado Springs Independent over questions about his residence and voter registration address.
As Zubeck reported at the time, Lee’s voter registration address on North Sheridan boulevard did not appear to be his actual place of residence.
State Sen. Pete Lee would have his constituents believe he shares a 936-square-foot, two-bedroom, one-bath house on North Sheridan Avenue with his stepdaughter, while his wife lives elsewhere — outside his district — in a home twice that size.
“I go back and forth quite a bit,” Lee, a Democrat, admits. But he notes all pertinent paperwork proving residency — driver’s license, voter registration and mailing address “for tax purposes” — list the Sheridan property as his home.
This is Lee’s claim, because he represents Senate District 11, in which the Sheridan house is located. So he has to make a case he lives there, though the state’s constitution, oddly, doesn’t require that he reside in his district after taking office.
The audio acquired by Peak captures Lee reacting to this story on a WebEx window that he left open during the Senate session in summer of 2020, broadcasting what he thought was a private conversation with an unidentified female over speakerphone.
Lee openly admits to the woman on the call he lied about his residence to establish a voter registration address within his state Senate district.
Lee also mentions conversations with Democrat Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg and Colorado Democrat Party counsel Martha Tierney, who eventually referred Lee to criminal defense attorney John Buckley.
PETE LEE: I’ve also got this G-d damn residency challenge, thing that Zubeck –
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I know.
LEE: Published, I’m really –
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oof.
LEE: Stressed out about that to be honest with you. Fenberg referred me to a Martha Tierney who’s the Party lawyer, who turned me onto –
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yeah I know Martha.
LEE: Yeah. Well she, did me some original good research and turned me onto a guy by the name of John Buckley who she works with very closely, who is also a criminal defense attorney. So I’ve been working with him.
I need to talk with you about, “what do I do?”
He has written a statement for me to put out. The interesting thing, two really interesting things –
One, the real threat is it’s a Felony 5 to vote from a district that you don’t live in. The way they define that is “present intent to reside,” that’s not exactly it, but, you know, it’s pretty close to that.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Right.
LEE: So, he doesn’t think there’s really enough to nail me on that because at the time when I voted I had a present intent to reside in Sheridan. Actually, the last time I voted I was living in Denver. Right? [Laughter]
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yeah. Right.
The “Sheridan” address listed as Lee’s voter registration address in Senate District 11 is not his actual address, but merely a rental unit he owns that he leased to his stepdaughter prior to his last run for the General Assembly.
As Lee explains, these revelations pose two big problems for him.
One, it’s a felony in Colorado to knowingly give “false information regarding the elector’s place of present residence.”
And two, the Colorado Constitution requires state legislators to live in their district for at least one year prior to the election.
PETE LEE: So that’s the really tricky one. The other one, and I’m talking purely on the technical side, is the issue of residency for qualifying to run for Senate and [I] have to live in the district for 12 months before the election. You probably don’t recall this but my tenants over on Sheridan left in May, I spent the next four or five months working on that house with, what’s the guy that used to run, uh – the Peace & Justice, Scott. Who passed away.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Scott Olson.
LEE: Scott Olson, yeah exactly. So we worked over there for three/four months. $10-11K to put it into shape. I moved in, as it were, and leased it out to Amanda in August. So Amanda & I are on the paperwork from, I mean me for thirty years, but Amanda beginning in August. And the question from Pam Zubeck is, “do you live with your stepdaughter and not your wife?”
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yeah.
LEE: Right? And I said “well I go back and forth, quite a bit.”
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yeah, I found the article.
LEE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It’s not a good article.
Lee goes on to ask the woman whether he should bother to put out a statement in response to Zubeck.
After further discussion both parties agreed Lee should keep quiet as to not perpetuate the story.
The unidentified woman went on to advise Lee that he should remain quiet unless there was an indication that he could be criminally charged.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Right, so […] the question is “what else is going to come of it?” Unless there is somebody who is threatening to turn you over to the DA, and the DA is going to pick it up, and charge you with a felony after voting …
STATE LEGISLATOR: The Senate will come to order [gavel]
It is unclear whether Lee realized he left himself unmuted before the audio begins to cut out near the end.
These revelations are especially embarrassing for Democrats in the General Assembly who, like Lee, spent Tuesday dismissing concerns raised by conservatives about preventing voter fraud.
As they saying goes, “do as I say, but not as I do.”
###
FULL AUDIO & TRANSCRIPT:
PETE LEE: I’ve also got this G-d damn residency challenge, thing that Zubeck –
WOMAN: I know.
LEE: Published, I’m really –
WOMAN: Oof.
LEE: Stressed out about that to be honest with you. Fenberg referred me to a Martha Tierney who’s the Party lawyer, who turned me onto –
WOMAN: Yeah I know Martha.
LEE: Yeah. Well she, did me some original good research and turned me onto a guy by the name of John Buckley who she works with very closely, who is also a criminal defense attorney. So I’ve been working with him.
I need to talk with you about, “what do I do?”
He has written a statement for me to put out. The interesting thing, two really interesting things –
One, the real threat is it’s a Felony 5 to vote from a district that you don’t live in. The way they define that is “present intent to reside,” that’s not exactly it, but, you know, it’s pretty close to that.
WOMAN: Right.
LEE: So, he doesn’t think there’s really enough to nail me on that because at the time when I voted I had a present intent to reside in Sheridan. Actually, the last time I voted I was living in Denver. Right? [Laughter]
WOMAN: Yeah. Right.
LEE: So that’s the really tricky one. The other one, and I’m talking purely on the technical side, is the issue of residency for qualifying to run for Senate and [I] have to live in the district for 12 months before the election. You probably don’t recall this but my tenants over on Sheridan left in May, I spent the next four or five months working on that house with, what’s the guy that used to run, uh – the Peace & Justice, Scott. Who passed away.
WOMAN: Scott Olson.
LEE: Scott Olson, yeah exactly. So we worked over there for three/four months. $10-11K to put it into shape. I moved in, as it were, and leased it out to Amanda in August. So Amanda & I are on the paperwork from, I mean me for thirty years, but Amanda beginning in August. And the question from Pam Zubeck is, “do you live with your stepdaughter and not your wife?”
WOMAN: Yeah.
LEE: Right? And I said “well I go back and forth, quite a bit.”
WOMAN: Yeah, I found the article.
LEE: Yeah.
WOMAN: It’s not a good article.
LEE: So, I think I’ve got the residency thing, I think I can establish residency because I paid taxes there and I did all that. But I don’t spend the nights there.
WOMAN: Yeah.
LEE: So, that’s a little bit of a challenge. So I just don’t know what the Hell is going to come of it. I just don’t know whether I ought to put out a response to Pam? I wrote her and just said two sentences, “Hey I’m really slammed right now let me get back to you on these issues at the end of the session.”
And she comes out with the article anyway.
WOMAN: I guess my question is, is there a reason to respond to the article?
LEE: Right.
WOMAN: You’re quoted in the paper, you’re quoted in the article. Unless there’s something else to follow up on it, why put out another statement? Or say anything more about it?
LEE: My thought exactly. You expressed exactly what I was tentatively thinking. I could stir the pot by putting something more out there. So I asked –
WOMAN: Yeah, it just perpetuates it. Unless there’s something, a legislative response, I found they quoted Bob Gardner in the article as well. “Your friend and colleague.”
[Laughter]
LEE: Well he was pretty good towards me. Did you hear what he said?
WOMAN: I saw what he said, he was agnostic really about you. It was more about, well, people should live in the district. It’s important for him not say too much about that, because Kit Roupe did the same thing in [unintelligible]. So, really?
LEE: And Mark Waller did the same thing in the commission deal.
WOMAN: Right, so […] the question is “what else is going to come of it?” Unless there is somebody who is threatening to turn you over to the DA, and the DA is going to pick it up, and charge you with a felony after voting …
STATE LEGISLATOR: The Senate will come to order [gavel]