Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s strategy to avoid scrutiny by state lawmakers of an election security breach by hiring her own “outside investigators” paid off as Democrats shut down further review in a party line vote.
The “outside investigation” was released by Griswold just minutes before the Legislative Audit Committee convened to vote on the matter Monday.
To no one’s surprise, Democrats voted along partisan lines and refused to examine the matter any further.
PeakNation™ will recall with some skepticism that Griswold first hired a law firm to which she had political ties to conduct a preemptive inquiry. Once the connections were discovered by the media, she dismissed that firm and hired another. The cost to taxpayers is expected to be upwards of $30,000, but her office won’t say exactly how much they spent.
Axios Denver has the best breakdown of the whole sordid mess and findings of Griswold’s “outside investigation,” that determined safety protocols were in fact violated that led to the online disclosure of election equipment passwords.
From Axios:
The secretary and the office were cited for violating state information security rules, but no repercussions are expected.
The secretary’s office did not release the full report — making it difficult to gauge the extent of the investigation.
The report made the most obvious recommendations to Griswold to prevent posting passwords online again in the future, by storing passwords in a digital safe rather than spreadsheet tabs.
Colorado Politics was at the Legislative Audit Committee hearing and reports this is the fourth time Democrats have shut down GOP efforts to audit state agencies or officials.
Sen. Rod Pelton, R-Cheyenne Wells, said the county clerks in the 13 counties in his district “have some distrust in the Secretary of State’s office,” and an audit would help improve that relationship.
The public mistrust goes far beyond just this one blunder by Griswold.
Now it extends to the audit committee, which the Denver Gazette reminded also blocked on a party line vote auditing former Gov. John Hickenlooper’s use of office funds as defense funds in an ethics complaint during his Senate election.
Among the most vocal opponents of that request was committee member Sen. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, whose daughter, Moisha, was political director for the Hickenlooper U.S. Senate campaign.
It’s common knowledge that Griswold is already campaigning to replace Polis as governor when his term limit pushes him out of office.
Shame on committee Democrats William Lindstedt, Andrew Boesenecker, Julie Gonzales, and Dafna Michaelson Jenet.
The Republicans who voted in favor of an audit were Lisa Frizell, Gabe Evans, Rod Pelton and Kevin Van Winkle.