The state’s Independent Ethics Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to grant subpoena power to Commissioner Sarah Mercer, the hearing officer in one of three ethics complaints filed against Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters. The commission also accepted as non-frivolous a third ethics complaint filed against Peters.

The IEC’s executive director, Dino Ioannides, asked the commission to grant Mercer that subpoena power after noting he’s “been having a little bit of trouble with responsiveness from the Peters side.”

The complaint drawing the subpoena powers, the second of three filed against Peters, was brought forward in January by Anne Landman of Grand Junction. It deals with a criminal legal defense fund set up on Peters’ behalf. The complaint alleged the fund does not follow a commission advisory opinion, which states donations must be publicly disclosed, that the fund cannot accept donations from lobbyists, and that donors must certify they have no business pending with the Clerk’s office. 

Peters denies all allegations.

A campaign finance complaint on the same issue is under review by Attorney General Phil Weiser. He is in charge of resolving that complaint, referred to his office by the elections division of the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office after Peters announced she would run for secretary of State.

The commission also decided to extend its stay on the first complaint against Peters, tied to her acceptance of plane rides and other travel-related items from MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell for her participation in his August 2021 cyber-symposium event.

Peters sought a stay on that complaint, given that the same matter was under investigation at the time by a Mesa County grand jury. The stay was on hold while the grand jury was deliberating and was due to expire once indictments were returned. That happened in March, rendering the stay expired, according to commission discussion.

After a brief discussion in closed session with a representative of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, the commission voted unanimously to extend the stay until the district court proceedings are resolved.

The commission also voted unanimously to accept a third ethics complaint filed against the embattled Mesa County clerk.

That complaint, also filed by Landman, is tied to claims by Lindell that he contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Peters’ legal fund. It alleges Peters violated the state ethics law by utilizing an out-of-state legal defense fund that may have accepted as much as $800,000 from Lindell.

The latest complaint noted that after the ethics complaint on Peters’ original legal defense fund was filed, Peters took down the website and moved her fundraising to Lindell’s “Legal Offense Fund” based either in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Peters and her allies then began directing donors to give to Lindell’s fund rather than the original fund, the complaint alleged.

Lindell told 9News during an April 5 rally at the state Capitol that he “probably put in 3, 4, 5, maybe $800,000 of my own money” into the second legal defense fund.

The complaint continued that when Lindell was asked if he was a close friend or family member of Peters, he indicated he met her during an August 2021 cyber-symposium event that he hosted. The ethics commission rules allows donations when the donor is a family member or a close friend, donating for a “special occasion.”

The complaint pointed out that Lindell “vehemently denied” any relationship with Peters in his conversation with 9News, calling it “a stupid question.”

Two days later, the complaint said, Peters issued a statement to the media that she had no knowledge of Lindell’s spending on her legal defense. That statement said: “Mike Lindell, is the CEO of My Pillow and while speaking to reporters at the rally, Lindell guessed that he invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into legally defending election integrity efforts.

“Tina Peters is focused on running a race to become the next Secretary of State of Colorado and has no knowledge of Lindell’s spending,” the statement concluded.

In response, the complaint noted, 9News ran a video montage of “numerous occasions” when Peters and her allies urged people to support her legal defense through donations to the Lindell fund. 

The complaint alleged that Peters’ claim of ignorance of Lindell’s contributions does not avoid a violation of the state ethics law, especially when Peters has directed donors to give to the Lindell fund. The fund does not disclose donors, the relationship of those donors to Peters, nor the amounts, as required by state law, the complaint stated.