MASSIVE VIOLATIONS EXPOSED: Thousands of Campaign-Finance Non-Disclosures Filed Against Three Top Colorado Democrats

New Campaign-Finance Complaints Target Michael Bennet, Phil Weiser After Similar Complaint Against Jena Griswold Upheld by Attorney General’s Office

Nov 21, 2025

Colorado Politics Upended by 3,674 Campaign-Finance Violations Filed Against Three Leading Colorado Democrats in Largest Ever Citizen-Led Accountability Action

🚨 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Nov. 20, 2025

New Campaign-Finance Complaints Target Michael Bennet, Phil Weiser After Similar Complaint Against Jena Griswold Upheld by Attorney General’s Office

DENVER, CO — November 20, 2025 — Colorado’s 2026 election landscape was shaken today as two major new campaign-finance complaints were filed against gubernatorial candidates Philip Weiser and Michael Bennet, bringing the statewide total to 3,674 alleged violations by three of the Colorado Democratic Party’s most prominent candidates.

“No Colorado citizen has ever filed an evidence-based campaign finance action this large, covering this many statewide candidates, with this volume of documented violations. This is unprecedented in scale,” said Ethan Augreen.

The filings come just 48 hours after the Colorado Attorney General’s office upheld a separate complaint alleging 492 violations by Attorney General candidate Jena Griswold, confirming the validity and seriousness of the allegations.

Two new complaints filed today allege:

1,988 violations by Attorney General Phil Weiser, including hundreds of contributions lacking required donor name, address, employer, or occupation information, totaling $202,534.24 in aggregate monetary value improperly disclosed.
1,194 violations by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, revealing widespread failures in mandatory disclosure under the Fair Campaign Practices Act, totaling $152,102.50 in aggregate monetary value improperly disclosed.

Screenshot of the first page of campaign finance complaint filed against Phil Weiser.

Both filings cite violations of C.R.S. §1-45-108(1)(a)(I)–(II), which require campaigns to itemize contributions of $20 or more and report employer/occupation data for contributions of $100 or more.

Griswold Complaint Already Validated by Initial Review

Earlier this week, Deputy Attorney General Lee Reichert accepted a separate but similar campaign-finance complaint alleging 492 disclosure violations by Secretary of State Jena Griswold. The Colorado Attorney General’s Department of Law (DOL) upheld the allegations, formally validating the complaint. Deputy AG Reichert wrote, “the DOL initially determines that the Complaint was timely filed, identifies one or more potential violations of Colorado campaign finance law, and alleges sufficient facts to support a legal and factual basis regarding one or more of the alleged violations.”

“This confirms that these issues are real, substantiated, and serious,” said independent Colorado voter and anti-corruption watchdog Ethan Augreen. “Colorado voters deserve transparency and compliance from all campaigns, regardless of political affiliation.”

Combined Total: 3,674 Alleged Violations by Top Democratic Candidates

These include:

· Missing donor names

· Missing addresses

· Missing employer and occupation information

· Systematic failure to comply with mandatory disclosure under the Fair Campaign Practices Act

“This is no longer a question of isolated errors or clerical oversights,” said Augreen, who conducted the audits and filed all three complaints. “This is now a statewide pattern among high-profile Democrat candidates who all share the same blueprint of systemic noncompliance.”

Screenshot of the first page of campaign finance complaint against Michael Bennet.

A Pattern of Negligence, Not an Accident

The complaints expose a uniform and repeated failure by all three campaigns to follow mandatory legal reporting requirements found in C.R.S. §1-45-108(1)(a)(I)–(II)—laws every candidate committee is required to understand and obey from the moment it files.

“These campaigns didn’t just miss a few marks,” said Augreen. “They blew past hundreds and thousands of legally required disclosures. If any ordinary citizen ran their taxes or business filings this way, they would face harsh penalties. Politicians should not be held to a lower standard than the people they serve.”

The earlier complaint filed on Nov. 3 against Jena Griswold was:

· Referred by the Secretary of State to the CO Attorney General’s office

· Upheld on Nov. 18, 2025 by Deputy Attorney General Lee Reichert

This provides official confirmation that:

· The violations are credible

· The filing met legal and evidentiary standards

· These are not “political stunts,” but legitimate transparency failures

Leading Democrats Under a Cloud of Scrutiny

With three major statewide Democratic candidates now facing the prospect of campaign-finance enforcement action, questions are emerging about:

· The Colorado Democratic candidates internal compliance systems

· Whether these violations reflect widespread negligence

· Whether leadership tolerated or enabled careless reporting

· Whether voters are being misled about who is funding these campaigns

“These candidates talk endlessly about ‘protecting democracy,’” Augreen said. “But democracy begins with transparency. If they can’t even follow the most basic disclosure laws, how can Coloradans trust them to run the state?”

A Crossroads for Colorado Politics?

The Colorado Secretary of State will now conduct preliminary reviews of the Weiser and Bennet complaints and determine whether amendments, cures, fines, or further enforcement actions are required.

Identical emails were sent to the campaigns of Weiser and Bennet at 2:17 pm MT on Thursday, Nov. 20 by Nicole Flores, Campaign Finance Enforcement Administrative Assistant with Colorado’s Department of State : “This email serves as notification under section 1-45-111.7(2), C.R.S., that a Complaint has been filed with the Secretary of State’s Office alleging that you violated Colorado campaign finance law(s)…The Elections Division will make an initial determination on this matter by December 9, 2025 (within ten business days of receiving the Complaint).”

Meanwhile, Jena Griswold has until Thursday, Dec. 4 to send a notice of intent to cure her campaign’s disclosure violations to Deputy Attorney General Lee Reichert

“Democracy is under attack and Colorado voters deserve transparency—not excuses,” Augreen said. “If these politicians can’t even obey basic campaign finance laws, they have no business managing the government.”