Democrats Call for Answers on Illegal Campaign Contribution from Dark Money Lobbyists

State Elections Division Asked to Investigate Illegal Donation to GOP Candidate for Attorney General

As a new campaign finance complaint was received by the Secretary of State against John Kellner, Republican candidate for Colorado Attorney General, today the Colorado Democratic Party called for the state Elections Division to quickly investigate and release its findings.

“John Kellner broke the law by taking illegal cash from a dark-money lobbyist. His actions are reckless and violate the very laws he’d be charged with defending if he were elected attorney general,” said Morgan Carroll, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “This latest scandal fits a troubling pattern of behavior by Kellner. While he talks tough on crime, Kellner repeatedly tolerates illegal and dangerous behavior whenever it benefits him. When it comes to enforcing the law, Kellner seems to think the rules just don’t apply to him.”

Kellner is accused of accepting illegal campaign money from the lobbyist for a dark-money advocacy group, Michael Fields. Kellner accepted a large campaign contribution from Fields despite Fields being a registered lobbyist during the 2022 regular session of the General Assembly. State law forbids lobbyists from giving campaign donations to candidates for statewide elected offices and the General Assembly while the legislature is in session. Additionally, as a candidate for attorney general, Kellner signed an affidavit that stated he knew and would follow the very campaign laws he has now violated.

A copy of the IEC complaint is here. 

The investigation comes after Kellner was accused of violating the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers as well as for prosecutorial misconduct for failure to disclose a conflict of interest. That incident involved Kellner’s refusal to bring official misconduct charges against his campaign donor despite recommended criminal charges from an independent investigation by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. Kellner has also failed to investigate or prosecute leaders of a right-wing militia group that gathered in his district and called for assassinating a public official. The militia group has ties to the current chair of the Colorado Republican Party, a prominent Kellner supporter.