Post, AP omitted ethics group's role in audit of Secretary of State employee

Summary: Reporting on an investigation into alleged misconduct by a state employee, an article in The Denver Post by Jeri Clausing stated that Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman requested the probe into "allegations that one of his elections workers was selling voter data through a personal website." But the Post did not mention that an ethics watchdog group sought the investigation first, and it did not offer some key background information about what led to the audit.

A May 9 Denver Post article by Jeri Clausing reported that Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman "asked the state auditor to investigate allegations that one of his elections workers was selling voter data through a personal website." But the Post omitted the fact that Coffman's request followed a similar appeal from the ethics watchdog group Colorado Citizens for Ethics in Government (CCEG).

A May 9 Associated Press article posted on the KCNC CBS4 website also omitted CCEG's role in the request for an audit of the state employee.

As the online political daily news site Colorado Confidential reported on May 4, "The Colorado Secretary of State's office has taken a 'personnel action' against the office's Election Technology Manager for allegedly selling 'targeted voter data' through a 'GOP Campaign help' website at PoliticalLiveWires.com." Colorado Confidential further reported, "The issue was first reported by Todd Johnston at ePluribus Media, who found that SoS employee Dan Kopelman was apparently offering the voter database to Republican candidates through the site."

Clausing, the Post's Capitol bureau chief, reported that "Coffman said an initial probe by his office found that the worker, elections technology manager Mike Kopelman (sic), conducted outside activities 'incompatible' with his job." The article added that Coffman "said he found no evidence Kopelman wrongfully accessed or sold state data. Still, he sent a letter requesting an independent investigation." Clausing further reported:

[Coffman spokesman Jonathan] Tee said "the initial results of our investigation show that Mr. Kopelman did not have access to the department's voter registration data, and that he has not purchased voter-registration data from this office" since being appointed to his job in January.

However, he said, the investigation found Kopelman appears to have violated two state personnel rules: engaging in outside employment without permission and conducting activities "incompatible" with his state employment.

In contrast to the Post, the Rocky Mountain News reported in a May 9 article ("Group, Coffman seek audit of election technology chief") that Coffman's "request to Auditor Sally Symanski Tuesday afternoon came several hours after a group called Colorado Citizens for Ethics requested an audit." The News article, by Lynn Bartels, also noted key background information on what prompted the audit:

Kopelman owns and operates PoliticalLiveWires.com, a right-leaning campaign consulting business that advertises the sale of updated voter information and touts past efforts in setting up mostly GOP Web sites.

The investigation began Thursday, when an Internet blogger asked Coffman about the appropriateness of Kopelman's side job. Coffman ordered that PoliticalLiveWires.com be shut down, which it was, Tee said.

According to its website, CCEG is "a state-based project of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a non-partisan 501(c)(3) organization that targets government officials who sacrifice the common good to special interests." It further describes itself as "a non-profit, legal watchdog group." CCEG announced on May 8 that it had "called for a state audit of the Colorado Secretary of State's (SOS) office to determine whether its employees have misused state resources for private gain. CCEG also sent a Colorado Open Records Act (CORA) request to the SOS seeking information on events relating to a controversy involving Elections Technology Manager, Dan Kopelman."

From Jeri Clausing's article in the May 9 edition of The Denver Post, "Secretary of State worker faces 2nd inquiry":

Secretary of State Mike Coffman on Tuesday asked the state auditor to investigate allegations that one of his elections workers was selling voter data through a personal website.

Coffman said an initial probe by his office found that the worker, elections technology manager Mike Kopelman, conducted outside activities "incompatible" with his job.

But he said he found no evidence Kopelman wrongfully accessed or sold state data.

Still, he sent a letter requesting an independent investigation.

[...]

[Coffman spokesman Jonathan] Tee said "the initial results of our investigation show that Mr. Kopelman did not have access to the department's voter registration data, and that he has not purchased voter-registration data from this office" since being appointed to his job in January.

However, he said, the investigation found Kopelman appears to have violated two state personnel rules: engaging in outside employment without permission and conducting activities "incompatible" with his state employment.

Kopelman could not be reached for comment.

Coffman, whose relationship with Kopelman dates back to 1994, said last week that he was "disappointed," by the revelation of Kopelman's website.

Kopelman previously worked for Coffman in the treasurer's office, and took a leave last fall to work on Coffman's campaign.

—C.H.