The Public Trust Institute has filed a complaint against Secretary of State Jena Griswold for using more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars to fund a blatantly political reelection TV commercial now airing in Denver.
The ad features Griswold and former Republican SoS Wayne Williams talking about the evils of election disinformation.
That would not be unusual, except Griswold has made that the central theme of her reelection campaign and attacks on her Republican opponent, Pam Anderson.
From the complaint:
“Equally effective advertisement content is available to support the same messaging regarding voting information without promoting a political candidate seeking office less than three months from now. Instead, Griswold has once again misused office resources for the purpose of promoting herself and her candidacy,” says the complaint filed Monday.
We’re not hopeful anything will come of this campaign finance complaint filed by the Public Trust Institute, as campaign finance enforcement falls under the prevue of the Colorado Secretary of State herself, Jena Griswold.
BREAKING: Public Trust Institute has filed a complaint against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold for her latest ad featuring Wayne Williams #copolitics pic.twitter.com/ZoSgLt6A6F
— Campfire Colorado (@CampfireColo) August 15, 2022
The complaint goes on to state:
“The timing of the ads, frequency of the ads, the target demographics of the ads, and the fact that the ads focus on promoting Jenna Griswold, create a strong factual basis that the advertisement is supporting the candidate’s election and constitutes a contribution …”
Indeed, it’s so blatant even 9News called out Griswold.
These federal funds paid for by American taxpayers were never intended to be used in political ads to repeat and reinforce a political candidate’s talking points for reelection.
The goals of Help America Vote Act, passed in 2002 after the Al Gore hanging chad fiasco, and recently refunded by the Democrat Congress, is to replace punchcard and lever-based voting systems; create the Election Assistance Commission to assist in the administration of federal elections; and. establish minimum election administration standards.
Griswold needs to pull those ads immediately.
She owes taxpayers a refund of their $1 million, and an apology for misspending our money on her reelection campaign.