Democrats in the Colorado legislature Tuesday blocked an attempt by Republicans to impeach Secretary of State Jena Griswold chiefly because of her support for an effort to disqualify Donald Trump from running for president again.
The House Judiciary Committee rejected the resolution seeking to impeach Griswold, a Democrat, on an 8-3 party-line vote after a hearing that lasted nearly 5 1/2 hours.
Republicans claimed Griswold committed malfeasance in office by voicing support for a Colorado Supreme Court ruling barring Trump from appearing on the state’s Republican presidential primary ballot in March because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. The resolution seeking to impeach Griswold cited a news release and social media posts that she issued, as well as her appearances on national television.
The U.S. Supreme Court in March unanimously overruled the Colorado Supreme Court and found that the state lacks the power to remove presidents from the ballot for violating the so-called insurrection clause in the U.S. Constitution.
The resolution was always destined to fail in the legislature, which is controlled by Democrats. But it provided an opportunity for Republicans to voice support for Trump and rile up their base as the November election approaches.
“This is something we can say, ‘we’re doing this,’ even though it might not be successful in the House,” Rep. Ryan Armagost, a Berthoud Republican and one of the lead sponsors of the resolution to impeach Griswold, told 9News in an interview last month. “That can also hopefully help us in the next election cycle. This will get more out to vote so we can get more people voting for what they think is right.”
Democrats brought up that interview Tuesday. Rep. Jennifer Bacon, a Denver Democrat and vice chair of the Judiciary Committee, flatly asked Armagost if his intent was “to rile up your base.”
“That is not the intent of this resolution,” Armagost replied.
The effort to impeach Griswold, backed by 17 of the 19 Republicans in the House, mirrors how Republicans in the U.S. House are trying to impeach President Joe Biden, a Democrat, despite a lack of evidence that he committed high crimes and misdemeanors, the threshold to oust a commander in chief.
In Colorado, the state constitution says: “The governor and other state and judicial officers, shall be liable to impeachment for high crimes or misdemeanors or malfeasance in office, but judgment in such cases shall only extend to removal from office and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust or profit in the state.”
Griswold, as secretary of state, is a state officer. She is in her second, and final, four-year term as secretary of state, but has expressed interest in higher office.
House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, didn’t have to allow a hearing on the matter as she has to for other bills, Attorney General Phil Weiser said in an opinion last month. “No Colorado law or rule provides express procedural requirements for consideration of an impeachment proceeding by the House of Representatives,” he wrote.
But McCluskie moved forward anyway, saying that while she thinks the resolution is a waste of time, “we believe a public hearing to set the record straight on this issue is in the best interest of our democracy.”
“This resolution, by the sponsor’s own admission, is a political stunt to gin up MAGA support for House Republicans,” McCluskie said in a written statement.
Democrats may have also let the resolution have a hearing to keep the spotlight on Republican election conspiracies.
Many of the questions from Democrats on the Judiciary Committee appeared aimed at embarrassing the resolution’s sponsors and their witnesses. For instance, Rep. Lorena Garcia, D-Adams County, asked each of the GOP’s witnesses if they believed Trump won the 2020 election and whether they thought the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol was an insurrection.
Republicans painted Griswold as being responsible for the lawsuit, but she was the defendant in the case brought by a group of Republican and unaffiliated voters seeking to keep Trump off Colorado’s Republican presidential primary ballot.
Griswold’s office didn’t actively fight or support the suit in court until it went to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, representing Griswold, argued that the state should be allowed to bar an insurrectionist from the ballot. The secretary of state said she was disappointed in the Supreme Court’s decision but would uphold it.
Trump did appear on the March 5 presidential primary ballot, winning 63% of the vote.
Griswold defended herself before the House Judiciary Committee and stood by her comments criticizing Trump.
“Donald Trump is an oath-breaking insurrectionist,” she said. “This sham impeachment is nothing more than a political stunt and it will fail.”
Griswold added: “House Republicans have chosen to focus on conspiracies and political games.”
Each side called four witnesses, who each testified for 10 minutes. Griswold’s witnesses were Harry Dunn, who was a Capitol police officer during the Jan. 6 riot and is now a Democratic congressional candidate; Democratic Denver lawyers Stan Garnett and Martha Tierney; and Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, a Democrat.
The Republican witnesses were former Secretary of State Scott Gessler, a Republican who represented Trump in the Colorado ballot-access case; former Deputy Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri, a Republican; former state Sen. Ray Scott of Grand Junction, a Republican; and Carrie Mumma, an unaffiliated voter from Littleton. They discussed the Trump ballot-access case, but they also criticized how Griswold has generally run the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office as too partisan.
Public testimony wasn’t allowed during the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearing as it is for committee hearings on bills.
The lead sponsors of the resolution were Armagost and Minority Leader Rose Pugliese of Colorado Springs. The only House Republicans who were not listed as sponsors of the resolution were Reps. Rod Bockenfeld of Watkins and Stephanie Luck of Penrose. Both have frequently participated remotely during the legislature’s 2024 lawmaking term. Bockenfeld is being treated for cancer and Luck recently delivered a baby.
Pugliese said her chief complaint was that Griswold’s support of the effort to block Trump from running for reelection was tantamount to taking away a choice for Colorado voters.
“I fundamentally have a problem with her inserting herself for what looks like political gain,” she said.
State Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton and two other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee — Reps. Matt Soper and Don Wilson — said the full House should get an opportunity to consider the impeachment allegations in voting to advance the resolution.
“There’s sufficient evidence to move forward,” Evans said. “We do have a process by which we can amend this resolution to add additional articles.”
Democrats called the allegations weak and partisan.
“Had there not been a lawsuit where Secretary Griswold was sued, we probably never would be here right now,” said Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Colorado Springs. “I keep coming back to the test of what would qualify for impeachment. I don’t think we’ve come close to meeting the test.”
Rep. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, decried the time the lengthy hearing took away from working on other legislation constituents care about.
And Rep. Leslie Herod, D-Denver, called the hearing political theater. “I’m sorry that you’re sick of seeing her on TV, but I don’t think that that rises to the level of impeachment.”
It appears that the legislature has never removed someone from office through impeachment.
The last time the legislature considered impeaching a state official was in 2004, when Republicans tried to impeach Denver District Judge John W. Coughlin over his ruling in a child custody case between two lesbians. The House Judiciary Committee rejected the measure, even though the GOP controlled the House at the time. Coughlin retired in 2005.
In 1935, the secretary of state resigned before the Senate could take up a House-approved impeachment over enforcing state liquor laws. In 1939, two members of the state’s Civil Services Commission were found not guilty by the Senate of alleged fraud in state hiring after being impeached by the House.