DA will not press charges against Dave Williams and Vickie Tonkins over allegations they hid delegate lists | Elections

District Attorney Mike Allen will not file charges against Republican congressional candidate Dave Williams and El Paso County GOP Chairwoman Vickie Tonkins in response to a criminal complaint alleging the two men withheld data on candidates competing with Williams for the party nomination.

In March, Joshua Griffin asked Allen, a Republican, to determine whether Williams used his position as chairman of the Colorado GOP to obtain lists of GOP delegates before they were made available to Griffin and others Republican candidates for the 5th Congressional District seat held by retired U.S. Rep. . Doug Lamborn.

Griffin also alleged that Tonkins gave Williams, his longtime ally, an unfair — and illegal — advantage by denying Griffin delegate slates before the party's nominating meeting. But the prosecutor's office said Friday that prosecutors had not found enough evidence to support the allegations.

“The investigation has not uncovered sufficient evidence to support this allegation and no criminal charges will be filed,” Allen’s office said in a statement.

Williams was the only candidate to advance to the primary ballot at the Republican congressional district meeting March 23 in Colorado Springs, while two other contenders – Griffin and former state Rep. Douglas Bruce – failed to win enough delegate votes to qualify. Williams faces a June 25 primary against former podcaster and political consultant Jeff Crank, who has filed a petition on the ballot.

Tonkins and a spokesperson for Williams told Colorado Politics they were disappointed the prosecutor spent taxpayer money investigating a complaint they both called frivolous and unfounded.

“I don't want to take this allegation lightly, but I forgot about it when I presented the truth and evidence to the DA's office some time ago,” Tonkins said in an emailed statement. “It’s sad that taxpayers’ money is being spent on things that have no validity and should have been rejected the day they were received.”

She added: “I hope that those who do this sort of thing will consider asking questions of those they are accusing before making allegations that are unfounded at best and are mostly blatant lies, like this complaint .”

Chris McIntire, a senior adviser to Williams' campaign, applauded the finding but denounced Allen's decision to open an investigation into the complaint in the first place.

“We are grateful that this ridiculous situation has come to an end because it is clear that the confrontational and biased DA's office wasted taxpayer resources investigating a blatantly frivolous complaint so it could generate negative press against the only supported candidate by President Trump and the NRA, Dave Williams,” McIntire said in a text message.

In a statement announcing the completion of its investigation, Allen's office cited a Colorado law that requires district attorneys to “immediately investigate” all complaints containing specific criminal allegations.

Prosecutors also said their review did not address what they described as concerns that Williams had “blurred the lines” between his roles as party chairman and congressional candidate, including allegations that which he allegedly inappropriately diverted party resources to his campaign. These allegations, the prosecutor's office noted, were reported to the Federal Election Commission.

Griffin told Colorado Politics he accepts prosecutors' findings.

“I have no problem with the prosecutor’s decision on this matter,” Griffin said in a text message. “I'm just grateful that we (El Paso) can still trust our elected judicial leaders. Unlike our state and party presidents in El Paso, who we can only trust to fail us every moment.”