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In our most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Colorado Republican Committee showed a sizable debt to our legal counsel. I’d like to explain how this debt arose. Incurring it was not a matter of choice. It was an intentional consequence of a lawsuit that former Chairman David Williams filed and attempted to continue through associates after his term of office expired.
In February of this year, then-Chairman Williams filed a lawsuit against his political opponents, including me, former Chairman Kristi Burton Brown, and three others. As Party Chairman, he had the sole authority to authorize lawsuits on behalf of the entire committee— even meritless ones such as this one.
When I was elected Chair, I moved to dismiss this lawsuit. I do not believe that Republicans should sue fellow Republicans for political activism. And, because the claims that the Central Committee asserted were baseless—they targeted political speech that the First Amendment and Colorado’s anti-SLAPP (“Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation”) vigorously protect—the lawsuit exposed the Central Committee to claims for attorney fees from the defendants.
My motion to dismiss this lawsuit should have put an end to this senseless vindictiveness. But former-Chairman Williams, in his final days in office, attempted to rule from the dead. He hired Matt Arnold to represent an “independent” committee. This committee attempted to join or intervene in the lawsuit to continue it. Mr. Williams pre-funded litigation that he knew the party would have to oppose.
Ultimately, a District Court judge found that this “independent” committee lacked standing to continue Chairman Williams’s lawsuit. But the party was forced to litigate this issue. Dave Williams’s attempt to undermine the incoming administration by continuing his vindictive lawsuit made what should have been a quick and simple dismissal into a long and costly litigation.
When his “independent committee” gambit failed, Mr. Williams’ associates Eric Grossman and Cody LeBlanc, both of whom were paid by contractors of the Colorado Republican Committee during Mr. Williams' chairmanship, attempted to join and continue the lawsuit under a different theory. More litigation ensued.
Eventually, the judge dismissed this lawsuit.
Mr. Williams set us on a crash course. He planned to force the Party to fight to end a frivolous and wildly defective lawsuit against fellow Republicans, or risk liability from defendants and leave in place an “independent” committee designed to undermine the new, duly elected Chair. That’s right: Mr. Williams attempted to have the party continuously pay for a completely unaccountable and uncontrollable committee designed to undermine its own chairman.
We appreciate that many Republicans may be concerned about debt. But this was an expense the party could not avoid and a necessary cost to free itself from the unlawful constraints that David Williams attempted to force on the incoming Chair. We believe in transparency to our donors, members, and all Republicans across the state. Part of that transparency is to explain that the legal fees that our most recent FEC report reflects were an unavoidable response to the former Chairman’s efforts to continue a vindictive and flawed lawsuit against fellow Republicans.
Like you, I wish that the Party would have been able to avoid these fees. I am confident that, by working together, we can build a stronger, united Republican Party that wins elections. That remains my goal as your Chair.
Sincerely,
