Fogbow

Colorado's top election official said Thursday that she is investigating a "potential breach" in voting security by a local Republican county clerk.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said that in late January her office learned of a social-media post, "attributed to Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Merlin Klotz," in which the official appears to boast that he made a copy of the hard drives used by local election systems.

"To ensure the security of Douglas County's voting equipment, I am issuing an Election Order requiring the Douglas Clerk to disclose information regarding the imaging of the election equipment server," Griswold said in a statement.

He is now the third Republican election official in Colorado to be investigated since the 2020 election, Colorado Public Radio reported. Last month Griswold's office began looking into claims from Dallas Schroeder, clerk and recorder for Elbert Court, that he was also inspired by Peters' example to make unauthorized copies of local election equipment hard drives.

Copies of Elbert County’s election system hard drive “are in the custody of unauthorized people,” the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said on Jan. 28.

The revelation came to light as Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, investigates Elbert County Clerk Dallas Schroeder, a Republican, for making the copies over the summer. Griswold’s office says it’s also likely that the copies were made “using a prohibited removable storage device.”

The Secretary of State’s Office is now demanding more information from Schroeder about the copies, which he says he made ahead of a software update.

On Jan. 24, Griswold issued an order demanding preliminary information from Schroeder on how he copied the hard drive. In response, Schroeder, through an attorney, said he delivered an external hard drive to an unnamed “private attorney … who promised to safeguard the evidence.”

Schroeder also admitted in his response to Griswold’s office that two people who are not employed by the Elbert County Clerk and Recorder’s Office provided instructions by phone to Schroeder as he made the images. Those people were identified in Schroeder’s response to Griswold’s office as Sean Smith and Mark Cook.

It’s not clear what groups, if any, Smith and Cook are affiliated with. They were identified in Schroeder’s response to Griswold only by their names.

Schroeder’s county uses equipment from Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems.

Mesa County clerk Tina Peters arrested in Grand Junction, suspected of deceiving judge
Peters was released pending charges after resisting a search warrant, according to authorities
The county’s election equipment has been decertified and will have to be replaced following a security breach allegedly aided by Peters.
By SAJA HINDI | shindi@denverpost.com | The Denver Post PUBLISHED: February 8, 2022 at 3:26 p.m. | UPDATED: February 8, 2022 at 4:28 p.m.

Grand Junction police officers arrested Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters on Tuesday morning at Main Street Bagels after she allegedly resisted a search warrant. Police responded to the shop at about 10:45 a.m. in the 600 block of Main Street where Peters was released at the scene, pending charges, according to the Grand Junction Police Department. Mesa County spokesperson Stephanie Reecy said the incident is unrelated to investigations of a possible election security breach in Mesa County. Mesa County District Attorney’s Office investigators were looking for an iPad that belonged to Peters, according to the search warrant signed Tuesday.

On Feb. 7, Peters allegedly appeared to be using an iPad to record a court hearing in Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley’s criminal case and then told the judge in the case that she was not recording it, the search warrant stated. The judge had told members of the audience that he would take action if he found out someone was recording the hearing. “If Clerk Peters had in fact made a recording, Judge (Matthew) Barrett’s decisions and actions would have been influenced by deceit,” the warrant stated. Knisley was charged in August with felony burglary and a misdemeanor cyber crime of unauthorized access, to both of which she has pleaded not guilty. The charges stem from allegations that Knisley entered a Mesa County worksite and was using Peters’ computer on Aug. 25 after Knisley had been suspended two days prior over an unrelated workplace conduct investigation.

While at a status hearing for Knisley’s case, DA’s Office staff members heard Peters tell the court that she wasn’t recording and that those who accused her of doing so were not being truthful, but a deputy DA and paralegal said they saw Peters using the iPad to record, or attempt to record and then stopping it when she was discovered, according to the warrant. Peters did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday.

The embattled clerk has been the subject of multiple investigations in the past year. State and local officials launched a grand jury investigation into allegations of election equipment tampering and official misconduct in Mesa County last month after conducting a federal, state and local investigation. Peters is accused of allegedly allowing unauthorized access to elections equipment during a Dominion Voting Systems software update in May as well as allegedly breaching election security protocols after which passwords from the voting equipment were posted online. A judge barred her and Knisley from overseeing the 2021 election in Mesa County and the secretary of state’s office has sued to stop Peters from overseeing the 2022 election after Peters refused to comply with new protocols. Peters is also facing state ethics and campaign finance complaints.

Estiveo wrote: ↑Fri Sep 03, 2021 9:05 am

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:55 am My new favorite thread title.

Yes, except it's not nearly long & cumbersome enough. We need to add their middle names, maiden names, diminutives, nick names, birth date, birth place, and something extra like "Lindell's Angels."

Squidney Sidney Katherine Powell - Born May 1, 1955 (She's a Taurus)

L. Lin Wood - Lucian Lincoln "Lin" Wood Jr. - Oct 19, 1952 Libra - "I might actually be Christ coming back..."

Gregg wrote: ↑Tue Feb 08, 2022 6:49 pm

Zodiac signs. We need to know their signs.

L. Lin Wood - Lucian Lincoln "Lin" Wood Jr. - Oct 19, 1952 Libra / Dragon - "I might actually be Christ coming back..."

Squidney Sidney Katherine Powell - Born May 1, 1955 - Taurus / Year of the Goat

orlylicious wrote: ↑Tue Feb 08, 2022 7:24 pm Another great point, hadn't thought of the Chinese Zodiac. 1952 for Lucian was the Year of the Dragon and Squidney was the Year of the Goat

Updated again due to popular demand:

L. Lin Wood - Lucian Lincoln "Lin" Wood Jr. - Oct 19, 1952 Libra / Dragon - "I might actually be Christ coming back..."

Squidney Sidney Katherine Powell - Born May 1, 1955 - Taurus / Year of the Goat

Arrest warrant issued for Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters
by: Al Maulding
Posted: Feb 9, 2022 / 08:19 PM MST / Updated: Feb 9, 2022 / 08:19 PM MST

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — An arrest warrant was issued for embattled Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters, who is accused of trying to block a search warrant when she was detained on Feb. 8, according to police reports. The Grand Junction Police Department released a redacted arrest warrant affidavit issued in the matter of “The People of The State of Colorado v. Tina Peters.” The document states that just before 11 a.m. on the morning of Feb. 8, investigators with the Mesa County District Attorney’s (DA) Office requested assistance for a person obstructing their execution of a search warrant at Main Street Bagels in downtown Grand Junction. When GJPD officers arrived on scene, DA investigators were in a “heated discussion” with a group of people occupying a table inside the business. A DA Investigator advised officers he had probable cause to charge a female with felony “Tampering with Physical Evidence.”

Investigators were speaking with a man, whose name was redacted from the report, asking if he was in possession of an iPad that was the subject of a search warrant issued by Judge Gretchen Larson. Investigators focused on the man because he was “preventing access to the table by the DA Investigators.” The iPad in question was then passed around between patrons seated at the table. Tina Peters then stood between officers and the male suspect, obstructing officers access to him. The affidavit states the reporting officer then took Peters by the arm and tried to move her in the direction of other responding officers. At that time, Tina Peters began “actively resisting and was placed in handcuffs for obstructing officers.” The affidavit says officers repeatedly told Peters to not resist. It reads that at one point, Peters attempted to kick one of the officers, but missed. Instead, she made contact with the officer’s taser and magazine pouch.

Peters was then taken outside and advised she was under arrest. As Peters continued to yell at officers that they were “hurting her,” officers continued to advise her she was under arrest for “Obstruction.” At one point, an unidentified female who was recording the interaction was asked to step back while an officer searched Peters. According to the report, Peters then tried to whisper something in the ear of the female who was recording. After the officer completed the search, officers took Peters to a patrol vehicle. Once she was placed inside “and out of view of the multiple people recording this interaction on cell phones the suspect calmed down immediately.” Peters then stated responding officers were “assisting a Merrick Garland.”

DA Investigators informed GJPD officers the DA had potential charges related to “Tampering with Physical Evidence and Obstruction” they wished to pursue. In an attempt to not duplicate charges, the DA Investigators asked that GJPD not charge Peters separately. Investigators stated that the DA’s Office would consider charges separately. During the search, a silver iPad in a white case was seized. An investigator from the DA’s Office then explained to Peters he was taking the iPad in accordance with the search warrant. Peters denied the iPad was hers, saying instead, it belonged to a Tammy Bailey. The DA Investigator then asked GJPD to release Peters. After Tina Peters left the location, the affidavit states GJPD officers learned the DA’s Office would not be filing charges.

Feb. 9, based on the responding officer’s request, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Peters citing a charge of “Obstruction of a Peace Officer,” a second-degree misdemeanor. The charge carries a bond amount of $500.

Uninformed wrote: ↑Wed Feb 09, 2022 6:44 pm According to the Chinese zodiac Foggy is a (water) dragon not a rooster!

Foggy wrote: ↑Thu Feb 10, 2022 9:18 am

Foggy, having been born hatched on Dec. 13, is a member of the forgotten 13th sign of the Zodiac. I am, in fact, a Snake Bearer.

That's correct. I'm an Ophiuchus. Put that in your goog and see what happens.

Phoenix520 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:10 am

Off Topic

Wait, I’m a Virgo now?