NEW: The office of Colorado Secretary of State @JenaGriswold (D) didn't change leaked voting machine passwords until AFTER the leak became public yesterday. Griswold was made aware of the breach five days prior, on October 24. More details on @nexton9news at 6. #copolitics
@JenaGriswold @nexton9news County clerks were not notified of the breach by Griswold until after the Colorado GOP called it out publicly yesterday. I asked Griswold yesterday whether she ever intended to tell the public. She said that hadn't been decided.
The leaked passwords are the latest in a string of errors by Griswold's office that undercut voter confidence in elections. Despite that, Griswold told me yesterday she will not resign.
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NEW: Spokesperson for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) confirms that "partial passwords" for Colorado voting systems were inadvertently posted online. The @ColoGOP first flagged the issue. #copolitics
The @ColoGOP says SOS @JenaGriswold (D) must comply with a list of election integrity demands or the GOP will call on county clerks to decertify the impacted voting machines.
@cologop @JenaGriswold SOS Griswold's office says there is no "immediate security threat" because no one could have used the leaked passwords to compromise voting systems unless they obtained physical access to the equipment through ID-badged secure rooms that are video-monitored.
Aurora Fire tells me capacity for the Trump rally is about 10,300. The guy with the clicker at the door says 1,500 entered in the first hour. Two hours until Trump speaks. Imagine it will be packed. I’ll thread updates from the rally here. #copolitics
“Come here! I’m gonna give you a hug. I don’t watch your show. You’re so full of shit.” - Katrena from Kittridge, CO
Mix of cheers and boos as Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams takes the stage. Williams just turned back an attempt by a faction of the party to replace him over allegations of incompetence and corruption.
NEW: Tina Peters’ sentencing in her election system tampering case has started. I’ll thread details here. Or watch live: #copolitics 9news.com/mobile/article…
Peters’ attorney asks for a sentence of probation instead of prison. Calls the prosecution highly politicized. Not sure how well that will go over with the judge, who wasn’t interested in political speeches during the trial. A pastor is now speaking on Peters’ behalf.
The pastor asks the judge to remand Peters into the custody of his church in California with a promise that she won’t be involved in Colorado politics anymore. Three people who were supposed to speak for Peters haven’t shown up, so now the people are speaking for the prosecution.
NEW: Colorado has a new welcome sign, of sorts. The billboard at the CO-WY state line warning "Venezuela Ahead, Be Prepared!" bears the name of Donald Trump's biggest billionaire megadonor. #copolitics 9news.com/article/news/p…
The billboard says “Paid for by Clipper Properties, LLC, Tim Mellon, Member.” Mellon gave $125M to a pro-Trump super PAC. The NYT describes Mellon as a "reclusive billionaire" whose autobiography said Blacks became "even more belligerent" after the expansion of social programs.
9NEWS has not independently confirmed that the Tim Mellon who paid for the billboard is the conservative megadonor of the same name. The law firm for the LLC hung up the phone repeatedly when Mellon's name was mentioned.
KOA's @MandyConnell repeated a claim that a Venezuelan gang is extorting truckers in Aurora, CO. It's from a TikTok video that appears to satirize anti-migrant hysteria. The TikTok creator said 18 Venezuelans got out of an SUV with "Venezuelan gang member" tattooed on their arms.
"18 Venezuelan got out of the SUV," the TikTok creator said in the video. "He pulled up his shirt and showed me his pew-pew and he had "Venezuelan gang member" tattooed on his forearm so I knew he was a Venezuelan gang member."
As some on TikTok look the claim seriously, the creator posted in the comments that his video was "a cranium thickness test." When asked by a commenter why he didn't call police, he replied, "couldn't talk on the phone had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek."
NEW: @AuroraMayorMike and Councilwoman @DaniJurinsky release a joint statement on Venezuelan gang activity, saying, "overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true." Statement says "a select few properties" affected. #copolitics
@AuroraMayorMike @DaniJurinsky Jurinsky was the chief driver of claims repeated uncritically by some local news media and promoted heavily by Fox News, InfoWars, and other conservative media. Coffman had pushed back on her claims, but he offered conflicting statements in interviews, sometimes within hours.
@AuroraMayorMike @DaniJurinsky On Monday, Coffman told @Rossputin that he wanted to solve the gang issue but Jurinsky was pursuing a "political" goal "to continue the issue... and continue that narrative through the November election." This joint statement is the first unified communication.