If you’re Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, now might be a good time to invest in blackout curtains and some melatonin, because sleep is probably in short supply. On May 12, the U.S. Department of Justice—now under the Trump administration—dropped a bombshell demand: hand over all records related to the 2024 federal election, and, if still available, anything that remains from 2020.
And this isn’t some polite request. It’s a sweeping, unprecedented move that election experts are calling “extremely broad” and unlike anything they’ve ever seen.
Here’s what we know: the request includes everything from voter registration rolls, turnout data, and potentially even voting system access logs and ballots themselves. Griswold, a staunch Democrat and fierce Trump critic, lashed out in response, accusing the Trump DOJ of “weaponizing” the federal government. But considering how she’s handled elections over the past several years, many would argue this scrutiny is long overdue.
NEW: Voting officials say they’ve never seen a demand like the one the Trump Justice Department sent to Colorado last month. https://t.co/4sbB0GH9uI
— Ben Swasey (@benswasey) June 11, 2025
A key question is why now? The DOJ hasn’t released the complaint that triggered this investigation, but insiders suspect a connection to the Tina Peters case. Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk who exposed questionable handling of voting machines in 2021, was slapped with criminal charges and labeled by Trump as a “political prisoner.” With Secretary of State Marco Rubio now calling the shots and Harmeet Dhillon running the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, it’s clear the administration is finally taking voter fraud and election integrity seriously.
Let’s also not overlook the March executive order signed by President Trump, which mandates increased federal oversight of voter rolls and enhanced data-sharing between states and agencies. Combine that with the RNC and Dhillon Law Group sending similar requests to 48 states, and it’s clear: the heat is on.
The real kicker? According to Denver7, many 2020 election records have already been destroyed under Colorado’s 25-month retention policy. That means even if the DOJ wanted to audit what happened in 2020, they may be out of luck—unless a county violated protocol and held onto records longer.
So, what does this mean? Griswold may not be accused of anything yet, but when the Department of Justice is digging this deep, you don’t send that letter unless you’re pretty sure there’s something worth finding. And for the Secretary of State who made herself a star by “resisting Trump,” this could be the beginning of her most uncomfortable chapter yet.
Stay tuned. The storm is brewing in Colorado.
Leave a Comment