Dropping the Bomb

The Colorado legal profession's day of reckoning has come

So… remember when I said “hey, it’s all about money”, “I’m telling you, its about the bottom line”, “the big dollar”, “the big cheese” etc…

Colorado Judiciary, Attorney General Phil Weiser and other public officials allegedly conspired to openly engage in a pattern of misusing public funds, public resources, and the authority of their positions to unlawfully conceal evidence of misconduct by judges, attorneys, and public officials/employees

This is big. Like…

Big as in catastrophic for those whose mantra was “Don’t hate the player, hate the game” when they made the rules of said game. In line with our current dialogue of unethical elected DAs being disbarred in Colorado, the the Denver Gazette reports this: a three hundred something whistleblower report from an anonymous source in the Colorado judicial admin, as well as a shorter version to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline which is available in pdf here. If true, this will create massive amounts of litigation, resignations, and possibly reform to the legal administration of Colorado. It also basically spears the administration that has had my licensure in their hands in the past few years. Let’s dive in!

First, the basics. what happened?

In 2019, the Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court (Nathan Coats, Brian Boatright, Carlos Samour, Melissa Hart, Maria Berkenkotter, William Hood, Monica Marquez, Richard Gabriel) approved what is infamously now known as the “Masias Contract” for Mindy Masias, a former Colorado State Court Administrator’s Office (SCAO) Chief of Staff. They approved a “facially absurd” amount of money¹ (2.66-2.75 million) for Masias, who was on her way out for her own financial crimes. Masias had threatened to release information on the impropriety of the Judicial Department, in which Boatright played a role. This was blackmail. Normally these amounts of money would need to be approved by the Colorado Office of the State Auditor (OSA) or the financial division in the SCAO, but neither agency was notified. After the contract was made public, the Justices cancelled it and forced the State Court Administrator and the SCAO Human Resources Director to resign in lieu of presumably taking responsibility. The Justices and other members of the court administration (the current members of the Judicial Commission, its Special Counsel, and new executive director) then embarked on a conspiracy to cover up their impropriety and the impropriety of other lawyers, elected officials and employees. They concealed the “Masias Memo” from the Commission for two years - that being the memo that entailed the talking points of the contract.

However, it’s not to say that the Commission was also not in on it too. Very plainly

The Justices then set off on their own “independent” ethics discussions (investigations?) to talk about the unethical conduct surrounding the Masias Contract and memo, once they were public knowledge. This was in addition to the made or authorized public statements commenting on and prejudging the merits of the Masias Controversy (including in relation to various pending or impending cases).

The Justices have also misused substantial public funds and resources (including co-opting the assistance, participation, and endorsements of Court of Appeals Judges and the State Commission on Judicial Performance) to promote the Court’s “Workplace Culture Initiative.” The Workplace Culture Initiative is essentially further commentary on the merits of the Masias Controversy and the purported sufficiency of the Justices’ response to strawman recommendations for organizational reform presented through the Justices’ self-serving “independent” investigations. In order to fund the “Workplace Culture Initiative,” the Justices have requested a recurring appropriation from the Legislature of over $1.2 million per year. Moreover, despite the OSA’s recognition that the Masias Contract created appearances of impropriety, the Justices had the audacity to request appropriations of $500,000 in FY 2024-25 (increasing to $750,000 in FY 2025-26) for “Leadership Development.” The Justices’ resurrected funding request includes further unethical commentary on the merits/reasonableness of the Masias Contract. The current Justices’ repeated public statements on the merits of the Masias Controversy implicate violations of Canon Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.6, 2.10 (Judicial Statements on Pending and Impending Cases), 2.11 (Disqualification), 2.12, 2.15, 2.16, 3.1 (Extrajudicial Activities in General), and 4.1 (Political and Campaign Activities of Judges and Judicial Candidates in General).

After this didn’t work, the Justices contracted with “independent” investigators which was all smoke and mirrors for the actual misconduct they were committing. These investigators were paid by public funds.² The Justices and their accomplices controlled all of the information and knowledge about judicial discipline, investigations, their own lack of independence, and otherwise by intimidating and influencing victims of crime and other public officials. Specifically, Jessica Yates (seasoned OARC attorney, who regularly leads the ethics classes taught to incoming attorneys) and Mindy Sooter³ (part of the judicial ethics commission) are alleged to have intimidated, interfered with, and retaliated against those who advocated for increased scrutiny of the Justices.

You know, people say I am too nice. People also say that I’m kind of an asshole (or maybe that’s just my wife). Whatever you think, all the people who have passed judgement on me and anyone else in the past few years seem to have royally fucked themselves. The same Colorado Supreme Court that decided to not put Trump on the ballot in November because of his “subversion of democracy” is actually subverting our own fucking taxpayer money and legal systems, which makes up a big part of our democracy. I don’t give a shit about Trump, but what the CSC did there would be quite an applicable “the pot calling the kettle black” kind of hypocriticism. These were judges, attorneys, prosecutors - ethics prosecutors - that all had a hand in this. Some of the most respected people in the Colorado legal system. It turns out they had no interest in the same things they scolded us about.

And you trust a prosecutor in the White House?

Moreover, these circumstances raise fundamental doubts as to the integrity of the Colorado Supreme Court’s self-proclaimed inherent authority to act as the exclusive regulator of the Colorado legal profession.

Anonymous Whistleblower to the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline,

October 20th 2024

Destroy and Rebuild

“Run it to the ground” is the last phrase on the shorter 11 page letter from the Anonymous whistleblower, and this is the call to action. Quite simply, no one is safe. This ramps up a few conversations about the necessity of the rules and rule makers. My⁴ authority to be an attorney flows from the Colorado Supreme Court and the OARC is a part of the supreme court. If the rule makers are not actually abiding by their rules, then all authority and legitimacy flies out the window. Since this touches the CSC, the AGs office, and many others, the only logical resolution: destroy it all and rebuild.

I honestly don’t think the anonymous whistleblower really understands the gravity of these allegations and what they will do to the practice of law in Colorado. The legitimacy of all attorneys, judges, cases and in general, justice in Colorado, is called into question. This is also only the beginning, because these ripple effects will continue to uncover the rest of this scheme. If I were an elected DA in CO who is friends with Ken Salazar and Phil Weiser, I would be very afraid. When rabbis are dropping judicial complaints on judges across the front range left and right (including Mr. BBoatright above), you know things have gotten bad.

In a vacuum, this complaint would typically inspire legislative change and etc. But in 2024? There is a different story. We are likely on the verge of a very important election, and not because democracy is threatened by Donald Trump…but because democracy is threatened by the ones making the rules. In 2023, only 16% of people said they trusted the government in America; the lowest since 1953. The judiciary is supposed to be independent, but this calls into question that very independence. This bombshell, right before the election cycle, will create an apathy in the American public which may start the discussion for total change. What does a total change mean? A completely different way of doing things in regard to the law, judges, attorneys and otherwise. A burning of the old and heralding in of the new, including everyone’s participation, and not only the “ol’ boys club” of the Colorado legal profession and judiciary. Quite simply, we have to rebirth what it means to be an “officer of the court” as it relates to the practice of law in Colorado. I look forward to seeing what happens when we get there.

Anyway, here’s some culture:

Thanks for reading!

-HJRC

1. Which was pre-conditioned upon Masias signing a separation agreement that contained a non-disclosure provision.

2. The individuals involved in this conspiracy were: Counsel to the Chief Justice Andrew Rottman, State Court Administrator Steven Vasconcellos, SCAO Legal Counsel Terri Morrison, former WilmerHale Partner-in-Charge / current Chief Deputy Attorney General Natalie Hanlon Leh, 1st Assistant Attorney General LeeAnn Morrill, then-Assistant Solicitor General and now-Court of Appeals Judge Grant Sullivan, other unspecified members of leadership within the Attorney General’s Office (including by implication Attorney General Phil Weiser and Deputy Attorney General Kurtis Morrison), Attorney Regulation Counsel Jessica Yates, former U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado / former WilmerHale Partner / presumptive Denver District Attorney John F. Walsh, former Colorado Attorney General/ former U.S. Senator / former U.S. Secretary of the Interior / former WilmerHale Partner/ current U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, the Governor’s then-Chief LegalCounsel Jacki Cooper Melmed, and this Commission’s current Chair / WilmerHale Partner-in-Charge Mindy Sooter.

Yates taught a CLE class on mismanaging funds that I attended.

3. Specifically, with the personal support of Attorney General Phil Weiser, Sooter sought appointment to this Commission while her law firm WilmerHale (where she is the “Partner in Charge”) was bidding on the Justices’ self-serving investigations and after WilmerHale and the Justices had originally negotiated for a solesource investigation contract. Through WilmerHale and her connections to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, Sooter directly assisted the Justices in violating Canon Rule 2.9(C) and in covering up their misconduct, as described in the accompanying RFE. Nevertheless, as a Commissioner, Sooter has not disqualified herself from participating in matters involving the Justices or the broader Masias Controversy. The current Justices’ non-recusal and obstruction implicates violations of Canon Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.2, 2.3, 2.6, 2.10, 2.11, 2.12, 2.13, 2.15, 2.16, 3.1, and 4.1.

4. Almost as if the anonymous whistleblower knew about my case, I was actually mentioned in their letter as an example of public corruption. But my case was premised on a lot of things, including my lack of knowledge of anything, and that I was trying to subvert justice. We know that’s not actually what happened, but it’s cool to be mentioned.