Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold thought she could get away with her anti-Trump antics forever.
But the Trump administration is now in charge of the Justice Department.
And Colorado got a nasty wake-up call when the Trump DOJ made this demand.
Trump’s DOJ orders Colorado to hand over election records
The U.S. Department of Justice delivered a bombshell demand to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold that has Democrats in the state scrambling.
In a letter, the DOJ ordered Griswold to turn over “all records” related to the 2024 federal elections, citing a complaint alleging noncompliance with the National Voter Registration Act.
The request isn’t just for basic election data – it’s for everything.
The DOJ demanded “All statutes, regulations, written guidance, internal policies, or database user ‘manuals that set out the procedures Colorado has put in place” to retain records related to elections.
Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, told Denver 7 that the scope of the request caught election officials off guard.
“Well, it’s certainly an unusual request. I don’t remember any request from the federal government this expansive coming in,” Crane said.
The demand covers a massive amount of sensitive election information that Democrats have fought to keep away from public scrutiny.
“It could be anything from voter registration information, voter turnout information. It could be information from the voting system access and activity logs… It could be the actual ballots themselves,” Crane explained.
Griswold’s chickens come home to roost
This federal investigation couldn’t happen to a more deserving Democrat politician.
Griswold has spent years positioning herself as Trump’s chief antagonist in Colorado, using her position as Secretary of State to wage lawfare against the President.
Her most brazen attack came when she tried to kick Trump off the 2024 GOP primary ballot, claiming he was disqualified under the 14th Amendment’s “insurrection clause.”
That backfired spectacularly when the Supreme Court unanimously slapped down Colorado’s attempt to interfere in the election in a 9-0 decision.
The high court ruled that states cannot unilaterally remove federal candidates from ballots without proper Congressional action.
Now Griswold is facing the consequences of her partisan games as the Trump administration takes a hard look at Colorado’s election practices.
Her response to the DOJ request revealed just how rattled she is by the federal scrutiny.
“Donald Trump has weaponized his Department of Justice, targeting his perceived enemies and meddling in state cases to try and free those who supported his big election lie,” Griswold said in a statement.
Colorado’s “gold standard” elections under the microscope
Griswold has spent years bragging that Colorado runs the “gold standard” of elections for the nation.
But that self-proclaimed excellence is now being put to the test by federal investigators who want to see exactly how Colorado has been conducting its elections.
The timing of the investigation raises questions about what prompted the federal complaint against Colorado’s election practices.
Crane suspects the inquiry may be connected to the case of Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk who was sentenced to nine years in prison in October 2024.
Peters was convicted of allowing unauthorized access to voting machines after the 2020 election, but President Trump has called her “an innocent political prisoner” and urged the DOJ to secure her release.
“When we get this kind of request asking for election records, when it’s something that she’s been putting out in the public square, as her supporters have, we think it’s pretty fair to say that it has something to do with that,” Crane said.
Records may have already been destroyed
The breadth of the DOJ’s request creates a problem for Colorado officials – many of the records they’re demanding may no longer exist.
Under Colorado law, election records must be kept for 25 months, which is longer than the 22 months required under federal law.
But Crane revealed that most counties have already destroyed records from the 2020 election, as the retention period has expired.
“Most, if not all, counties have destroyed all of those records now from the 2020 election,” Crane told Denver 7.
However, records from the 2024 election are still being retained by the state’s 64 counties, which actually run the elections in Colorado.
“The Secretary of State will have some of the data… but most of this data is in each of the 64 counties who actually run the elections,” Crane explained.
Democrats cry “weaponization” when the tables turn
Griswold and other Colorado Democrats are now complaining about the “weaponization” of the Justice Department, which is rich considering their own behavior over the past four years.
Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, who is running to succeed Griswold, also criticized the DOJ investigation.
“This absolutely is not about election security. It’s not about voter confidence,” Gonzalez said. “It really does feel like a politically motivated fishing expedition.”
But these are the same Democrats who cheered when the Biden administration’s Justice Department went after Trump with unprecedented lawfare attacks.
They had no problem with weaponization when it was being used against their political opponents.
Now that Trump is back in the White House and his DOJ is asking tough questions about their election practices, suddenly they’re concerned about political motivations.
The Trump administration gets serious about election integrity
The DOJ’s comprehensive records request signals that the Trump administration is taking election integrity seriously and won’t accept claims of perfection at face value.
Two DOJ spokespeople declined to comment when asked about the investigation by Denver 7, indicating this is an active and serious inquiry.
Colorado officials had better hope their “gold standard” elections can withstand federal scrutiny, because the Trump DOJ appears determined to get to the bottom of any irregularities.
After years of Democrats using election-related investigations as political weapons, they’re now finding out what it feels like to be on the receiving end of federal oversight.
Griswold’s attempt to interfere in the 2024 election by removing Trump from the ballot showed her willingness to abuse her power for partisan purposes.
Now the Trump administration is making sure Colorado’s election practices get the thorough review they deserve.
The federal investigation into Colorado’s elections is just beginning, and Democrats like Griswold are already showing they have something to hide with their panicked responses.
Americans deserve to know whether states like Colorado have been conducting their elections with the integrity they claim, or if there are serious problems that need to be addressed.
The Trump DOJ’s demand for “all records” suggests they’re not taking any claims of election perfection on faith.
