Williams probed on issues of finance
Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams is under investigation by a grand jury for how his office handled several campaign finance complaints, the Denver district attorney’s office has confirmed.
In an election year, the investigation is unavoidably tinged with political appearances, as the Republican state official seeking reelection in November reacted with disappointment to the continuing investigation by a Democratic district attorney. The official misconduct complaint was initiated last summer by a conservative campaign finance watchdog who has tangled frequently with Williams’ office.
Matt Arnold, who operates under the name Campaign Integrity Watchdog, alleged that Williams’ office failed to pursue the collection of a $9,650 judgment against a Colorado Springs political committee. It had failed to register with the state and failed to file financial disclosure reports.
Arnold also alleged that it was improper for Williams’ office to intervene in legal proceedings in support of a half-dozen groups facing campaign finance complaints, costing taxpayers more than $25,000 in legal fees. And he argued Williams was aiding political cronies involved in those groups.
Williams, a Republican who is seeking a second term, defended his office’s conduct in the face of the investigation, which was first reported Thursday night by CBS4.
He said there was no way to collect the judgment cited by Arnold, since that group had no assets, and he said the judges gave his office permission to get involved — often because those cases raised legal issues of public interest.
“Calling it illegal when the court approved it is absurd,” Williams said in an interview.
said his office has cooperated with the District Attorney Beth Mccann’s office since the complaint was filed. He and his deputy, Suzanne Staiert, have received subpoenas to testify to the grand jury April 11, they confirmed. CBS4 reported that the grand jury began meeting this month.
The investigation poses a potential political complication for Williams. And he noted that the probe was referenced in El Paso County this week in an anonymous attack on the candidacy of his wife, Holly, who is running for county commissioner; she is seeking support at the county GOP convention Saturday.
Mccann’s office said the investigation targeting Wayne Williams was underway but declined to comment further. Under Colorado law, official misconduct in the first degree, as pursued by Arnold, is a misdemeanor.
“I can confirm there is an open investigation in the Denver Grand Jury relating to the Colorado Secretary of State, and that it concerns campaign finance complaints and the collection of campaign finance penalties,” said Ken Lane, Mccann’s spokesman, in an email Friday morning. “Per the rules and procedures governing grand jury proceedings, we cannot comment further on pending grand jury investigations.”
District attorneys can opt to have their staff attorneys screen complaints for potential charges or submit the evidence to a grand jury, allowing citizens to make the call. Though Mccann, a Democrat, has not said why she chose to have her prosecutors submit the case to the grand jury, that route sometimes is used by prosecutors to reduce the appearance that politics entered into a charging decision.
A news release issued by Williams’ spokeswoman Friday took aim at Arnold, a tenacious activist who has become the state’s most persistent filer of campaign finance complaints.
But Arnold was unbowed. “Wayne Williams can now claim the dubious distinction of being Colorado’s only statewide elected official to be investigated by a grand jury for criminal conduct related to the duties of his office,” said a news release issued by Arnold on Friday morning.
The uncollected fine was assessed in 2014 against the Alliance for a Safe and Independent Woodmen Hills, a local political group in Colorado Springs. State Sen. Bob Gardner is listed in state records as the registered agent.
Given that the committee has no money, Arnold argues that Williams’ office should go after the assets of individuals who were involved in the group. But Williams says state law does not allow that avenue for political committees.
On the other allegation, Williams said his office has intervened in campaign finance complaints involving both Democrats and Republicans to make arguments about the legal issues involved. He said the office twice has intervened in support of Arnold’s group in cases, and a third time it intervened with arguments that were partially in favor of Arnold’s group and partially against; Arnold took issue with that assertion, saying the office filed briefs but didn’t fully intervene as it has in other cases.
“There are a lot of these cases that don’t involve a lot of money for the respondent but have significant legal issues that affect our ability to follow Colorado law and our ability to advise interested citizens and candidates how to follow Colorado law,” Williams said. “Any intervention this office has done has been under the permissive standard, where the judge has to allow us to intervene.”
He said state legislators have supported that legal involvement, including with legislation that is pending in the state Senate, with Gardner as a co-sponsor.
Arnold suggested Friday that the legislation is an attempt to change the law to innoculate Williams against the potential charges in the grand jury proceeding. But Williams and Staiert said the drafting of that bill occurred during last year’s legislative session, with minor changes since then.