A legislative ethics panel in Colorado is scheduled to meet Wednesday to review a complaint alleging that Aurora Democrat Rep. Mandy Lindsay misused House Democratic caucus funds.

Rep. Bob Marshall, D‑Highlands Ranch, filed the complaint on Jan. 26. Marshall’s complaint outlines the structure of caucus funds and details the responsibilities Lindsay has in managing them.

Lindsay told Colorado Politics on Tuesday, “I respect the ethics committee, trust in the work they will do, and I look forward to the process.”

Lindsay has served as one of the two House Democratic caucus co‑chairs — alongside Rep. Junie Joseph of Boulder — since November 2022.

The caucus chair is responsible for managing the group’s fund, including collecting member dues, creating and overseeing the budget, and disbursing and accounting for all expenditures.

According to the complaint, Lindsay has access to the fund’s bank accounts and holds signature authority over them.

Each caucus member pays $2,500 in dues for every two‑year term — 46 members in 2023–24 and 43 members in 2025–26. According to the complaint, those dues should have generated more than $200,000.

Claims of misappropriation of funds

Marshall alleged that Lindsay mismanaged and misappropriated funds for her own personal use in an unethical and potentially criminal manner.

His complaint alleged that, on March 12, 2025, a “self-written check” to Lindsay for $2,500.00 was posted to the caucus fund records.

The complaint said Lindsay wrote the check to herself and deposited it in her personal bank account, noting on the subject line that the check was for “dues return.”

However, the complaint said, Lindsay never paid caucus dues in 2025-26. Her last payment of caucus dues was on Nov. 29, 2022. That payment came from her campaign account.

Marshall’s complaint alleged that this could constitute money laundering, since funds from a campaign account cannot be deposited into a personal account.

When Lindsay was confronted by Joseph about the check, she paid it back on April 21, 2025.

The complaint alleged that, from November 18-21, 2024, six debit card purchases totaling $6,358.68 were made at the Golden Courtyard Marriott by the House Democrats’ caucus fund.

Those payments were for a retreat.

On Dec. 4, a self-written check to Lindsay for the same amount was deposited in her personal bank account. The subject line said “retreat reimbursement,” according to the complaint.

When confronted, Lindsay claimed the amount was owed to her for dozens of caucus expenses she had personally paid, despite the information on the check’s subject line.

She was asked to provide receipts for those expenses. She, instead, provided sticky notes with the expenses she claimed she incurred on behalf of the caucus, according to the complaint.

It was then that Joseph called for an audit.

A caucus audit

The audit took almost six months and did not resolve the issues, Marshall’s complaint stated.

Instead, the reconciliation claimed the caucus fund owed Lindsay $1,315.80.

But, as Lindsay still owed $2,500 for caucus dues she never paid for 2025-26, the “reconciliator” from the state party said Lindsay still owed the caucus $1,184.20.

A Dec. 30 update changed the amount owed to $384.20 “upon further review.”

Allegedly, Lindsay used the caucus debit card on March 24, 2025, to pay for a $96.17 hotel bill in Portland, Oregon. She admitted to it but claimed it was an accident and reimbursed the fund, according to the complaint.

The complaint alleged other examples of neglect and suspicious handling of funds, which included writing checks to herself from the fund for “rounded figures”.

The complaint also noted that the examples are only from Nov. 2024. At that time, the caucus elected a caucus co-chair who began asking about these “issues of concern, only to be rebuffed.”

One example prior to November 2024 was the theft of the caucus debit card, which was used to make about $2,000 in retail charges but that was never reported to the caucus, according to the complaint.

“This is in the overall context of a failure to provide a single annual budget or even an annual or monthly statement of account to the caucus, even after these concerns have been noted,” Marshall’s complaint said.

The audit, dated Oct. 1, stated that “based on the cadence, vendors, and amounts of the transactions, and based on the transactions reviewed and the documentation currently available, the fund appears to have been used for its intended purpose. That said, there are several internal control gaps that
should be addressed to ensure proper and timely accounting of transactions for leadership review.”

The audit found that the way transactions were handled was irregular and did not follow standard financial management practices. Instead of using a formal expense‑reimbursement process, funds were deposited and withdrawn at personal discretion, supported only by a separate personal record‑keeping system that was not connected to the organization’s official accounting, the audit said.

While this method may not have caused a net financial loss, it falls short of accepted fiduciary standards, the audit added.

The final audit results from last year included several recommendations for immediate action, including appointing a third party to conduct monthly account reconciliations and maintain all supporting documentation.

Lindsay was chosen by a House District 42 Democratic vacancy committee in January, 2022 to replace Rep. Dominique Jackson, who had taken a position with the Biden administration.

Lindsay was elected to a full term in the 2022 general election and re-elected in 2024.

The The House Ethics Committee will hold its first meeting on the complaint at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.