Trump admin orders Colorado to turn over ‘all records’ from 2024 federal election

In a letter to Griswold, the DOJ stated, “We recently received a complaint alleging noncompliance by your office" concerning the National Voter Registration Act, and that “all records” related to election were needed to evaluate the complaint. The DOJ also requested “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, said in response to the order, “Well, it's certainly an unusual request. I don't remember any request from the federal government this expansive coming in,” according to Denver 7.

Crane claimed that the order from the DOJ was too broad, “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.”

Under Colorado law, election records must be kept for 25 months—longer than the 22 months required under federal law, but Crane said that window has long closed, the outlet reported.

“Most, if not all, counties have destroyed all of those records now from the 2020 election,” Crane continued.

Crane added that counties are still in the process of retaining records from the 2024 election and that most relevant data resides at the county level. “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.”

It’s still unclear why the Department of Justice is seeking the records. Two DOJ spokespeople declined to comment when asked by Denver7.

Crane suspects the inquiry may be related to Tina Peters, the former Mesa County clerk currently serving a nine-year sentence for allowing unauthorized access to voting machines.

While Peters is not mentioned in the DOJ’s letter, Crane said, “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.”

President Donald Trump recently said that Peters is “an innocent political prisoner” on Truth Social and urged the DOJ to secure her release.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold responded to the order in a statement. “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. “I will always follow the law and protect our democracy, and won’t be intimidated by this baseless inquiry.”

Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, who is running to succeed Griswold, is also criticized the DOJ. “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.”