CBS Colorado reports that Attorney General Phil Weiser’s gubernatorial campaign received about $75,000 from 68 attorneys at 12 law firms that were engaged in litigation with, or had recently settled with, the Attorney General’s Office. CBS notes the donations are legal, but says the timing raises questions, including one case where 10 attorneys at a firm representing a company in a settlement donated more than $6,000 around the time of that settlement.
This is Colorado’s favorite ruling-class magic trick: everything is technically fine until a regular person does it. Then it becomes a scandal, a threat to democracy, a blue-ribbon commission, and possibly a task force with branded tote bags. But when the sitting Attorney General, now running for governor, takes campaign cash from lawyers connected to firms moving through his office’s legal airspace, suddenly we’re all supposed to admire the disclosure forms and clap like trained seals.
The Bullet Point Brief
- CBS Colorado says Weiser’s campaign received roughly $75,000 from 68 lawyers at 12 firms whose firms had litigation or settlements involving the AG’s office. No one needs to claim a cartoon sack of money labeled “BRIBE” to notice that this smells cozy.
- The donations are legal, according to CBS. Wonderful. Legal is not the same as clean, and disclosed is not the same as ethical.
- CBS found that 66% of the donations were made within four months of settlements, with donations averaging about $1,300 each. That may not prove wrongdoing. It does prove Colorado voters are not idiots for asking why the legal traffic-control tower is taking campaign cash from people flying through the airspace.
- Weiser’s opponent raised the issue, which means yes, politics is involved. Campaigns throw rocks for a reason. Sometimes the window really is made of glass.
- CBS also reported Weiser previously faced scrutiny over contributions tied to Dish Network while his office was probing customer overcharging allegations, and his campaign then said he refuses and returns contributions from anyone tied to a pending investigation. Funny how old quotes have a way of walking back into the room.
My Bottom Line
Do not overcharge the case. This article does not prove a quid pro quo. It does not prove a crime. It does not prove Phil Weiser sold anything. But it does prove something voters already know in their bones: Colorado’s elite legal and political class is small, incestuous, and forever pretending the revolving door is just a hallway.
The Attorney General’s Office is not some decorative government cubicle. It affects lawsuits, settlements, enforcement priorities, regulatory pressure, and the legal fate of businesses and industries across Colorado. Lawyers know that. Firms know that. Campaigns know that. The public knows that.
If a county clerk, cop, contractor, or small-town official pulled something that looked this cozy, the good-government choir would be screaming into a reusable grocery bag by lunchtime. But when the résumé is shiny, the party label is correct, and the ambition points toward the governor’s office, suddenly everyone wants to discuss contribution limits like we’re in a kindergarten civics circle.
Colorado Democrats have spent years branding themselves as guardians of democracy while building a donor ecosystem that looks an awful lot like a concierge desk for insiders with pending interests before government. Spare us the compliance poetry. The question is not only whether it is legal. The question is whether it passes the smell test. Right now, it smells like the courthouse cafeteria got left in the sun.
Source: CBS Colorado
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