ASHE IN AMERICA
— OPINION
Judge Philip Brimmer in the US Federal Court for the District of Colorado threw out a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice against Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, after she failed to share voter data to support the Trump Administration’s efforts to ensure only eligible voters are accessing US elections.
Secretary Griswold claims the requested information contains sensitive information — including driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers — and that the administration has no legitimate right to demand the data. The DOJ argues Title III of the Civil Rights Act requires Colorado to turn the records over. Brimmer disagreed with the DOJ, dismissing the case with prejudice.
Griswold took a victory lap, saying in a statement quoted in CPR, “Trump and his DOJ are attacking elections and democracy. We will not let them win… Today’s victory affirms that Trump’s DOJ has no right to Coloradans’ sensitive voter information.”
This was a procedural victory for the secretary, not a constitutional one. Brimmer dismissed the case narrowly, reading that voter registration lists aren’t “records” covered by 52 U.S.C. § 20701, and even if they were, the DOJ’s December 1 demand didn’t state a valid basis and purpose as the statute requires.
The lack of a valid basis is confusing considering the document and witness testimony that was recently declassified by the Trump Administration. Newly declassified records reveal that, “voter registration rolls from at least 18 states (not all identified by name) have been compromised by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).” Colorado is on that list, revealed by the White House Government Transparency taskforce on July 13, 2026.
Ostensibly, Chinese hackers did target Colorado voters’ sensitive data; further declassification revealed that some voter data was obtained through unauthorized access across the country, though names of the states remain redacted. Those records also reveal that intelligence officials deliberately withheld that information from the Presidential Daily Briefing, admitting in the previously classified communications that, “We have deliberately massaged our one pending PDB to avoid any direct links to the election.” These communications are posted on The White House website under the “Election Integrity” tab.
The implication from the declassified documents is that federal intelligence officials were hiding a major national security threat from the Commander in Chief.
Considered in that context, is Brimmer preventing the DOJ from mitigating a national security threat of unauthorized Chinese data access? Not according to the record of the arguments presented before him.
The DOJ didn’t argue national security. They argued voter roll hygiene, an activity and authority directly under the purview of the states and, for Brimmer, that was insufficient. Since the case is dismissed with prejudice, the DOJ can’t bring the voter roll hygiene case again.
They should bring the national security one.
There is no indication that Secretary Griswold is mitigating a Chinese data breach. She doesn’t even seem concerned about it, despite credible, documented evidence of a foreign threat to Colorado elections. Almost like it’s not a surprise.
Instead, the secretary is concerned that federal authorities might check the work of her and her office. This is the same office that “accidentally” sent 29,997 invitations to register to vote to ineligible voters (non-citizens). It’s the same office that posted over 600 election equipment passwords on the internet for a period that spanned two separate election events.
This is the same office that was caught in a coverup of that password breach. Then Deputy Secretary of State Chris Beall was outed on a recorded line telling the Adams County Clerk and Recorder, “We were not going to tell counties because we could not tell counties without it becoming the media storm that it’s become.” Note that they can’t investigate a breach without the clerks — who control the machines, the cameras, access logs, etc. — so they likely didn’t investigate at all.
Given the revelations about Chinese access to US elections, which were declassified nearly two years after the Beall scandal, the conduct and focus of the secretary’s office raises new questions about a national security threat. If the courts won’t let the feds access information required to combat foreign threats in our elections; and the state outright refuses to combat foreign threats in our elections; is anyone actually combating foreign threats in our elections?
This isn’t on Brimmer. The DOJ didn’t bring a national security argument into his courtroom.
They should.
Ashe Epp is a local writer, host, and activist. Find all her work at linktree.com/asheinamerica.
