A group has filed filed a campaign finance complaint alleging Secretary of State Jena Griswold violated public campaign announcement rules.

The Jan. 14 complaint from The Public Trust Institute, which is represented by Suzanne Taheri of West Group Law, alleged that Griswold “expended funds on a gubernatorial campaign and had a website dedicated to a gubernatorial run but has not registered a committee or filed a candidate affidavit for governor.”

The website — jenaforgovernor.com — was first published in August but was taken down soon after a 9News report on Dec. 20.

According to the complaint, when asked about the website, Chris Griswold, brother and campaign manager for Colorado’s top election official, “initially lied, stating it was ‘definitely’ not their domain.”

The complaint said the Griswold campaign revealed it purchased the website only after learning that his email address was tied to the campaign’s email subscription.

Chris Griswold told Colorado Politics Tuesday that the complaint is “baseless.”

“Jena is committed to serving Colorado, advocating for working people, and standing up to Donald Trump to protect our freedoms. She has not decided how that service will look beyond 2026,” Chris Griswold said. 

The complaint said the website fits Colorado law’s definitions of a public campaign announcement, citing Colorado Constitution Article XXVIII, Section 2. It further claimed that the purchase of the website’s domain name denotes an official campaign expenditure, citing the same law.

Colorado campaign finance law requires an individual who becomes a candidate to file a candidate affidavit within 10 days of filing it. A personal financial disclosure is also required within 10 days of the filing.

The complaint also alleged that Jena Griswold “failed to submit a candidate affidavit for governor or form a candidate committee as required by the Fair Campaign Practices Act.”

The complaint was turned over to Attorney General Phil Weiser for further investigation to avoid a conflict of interest in the Secretary of State’s office. Weiser last month declared his candidacy for governor in 2026.

According to Lawrence Pacheco, chief communications officer for the Colorado Attorney General’s office, the Department of Law’s initial review date is Jan. 29.

Taheri of West Group, who has filed ethics complaints against public officials, is the former deputy Secretary of State under Republican Wayne Williams.

She did not respond to a request for comment.