This story was first published at Colorado Newsline.
DENVER | A group of Colorado representatives on Monday found probable cause that Rep. Mandy Lindsay violated ethical guidelines by mismanaging Democratic House caucus funds, but they do not suspect her of any criminal behavior.
The House Ethics Committee voted unanimously to make the probable-cause finding, which is not a determination that she is guilty, but rather that a violation may have happened. Lindsay, the caucus co-chair who represents parts of Aurora, now has the opportunity to request a formal hearing to go over evidence and question witnesses.
“When you’re managing other people’s money, the law imputes a fiduciary obligation,” Rep. Steven Woodrow, a Denver Democrat, said. “I think that that’s sufficient evidence to show that’s been established here and that it was breached. And then there’s sloppy bookkeeping probably amounting to gross negligence, and it is because of that sloppy bookkeeping that we’re unable to figure out exactly what happened.”
Lindsay told Colorado Newsline she intends to ask for a hearing so “all the questions can be answered, once and for all.”
“This is a complicated matter, with hundreds of documents and I understand how even at this point there are questions, and I am certainly happy to answer them,” she said. “The initial phase of the committee process doesn’t allow for questions (to the respondent) to be asked, which makes parsing out the details difficult.”
The committee received evidence including emails, bank statements, receipts and other accounting documentation.
The ethics complaint against Lindsay, filed by fellow Democrat Rep. Bob Marshall of Highlands Ranch, alleges that she improperly reimbursed herself from the caucus bank account and used that money for personal expenses. She wrote herself a check for more than $6,300 in December 2024 as a reimbursement for caucus retreat expenses, despite the caucus debit card being used for the same amount at the retreat hotel. She also used the caucus debit card to pay for a hotel room in Portland, and she wrote in her response to the complaint that the incident was a mistake she quickly corrected.
“In my four years in this position there have been a handful of incidents where a personal card was used when the caucus card wasn’t on hand, or in the reverse, when accidental charges were made to the caucus card,” she wrote. “When this has happened, the account has always been reimbursed and reconciled, and these occurrences are accounted for and/or documented with receipts.”
The Colorado Democratic Party conducted an audit of caucus accounting last year and found that the bank account was properly reconciled, but also suggested new policies and practices for handling caucus funds. Lindsay’s response to the complaint also included a spreadsheet of expenses from 2022 to 2025.
“What’s clear to me after the hours and hours I’ve spent poring over the documents is that I agree with part of the final assessment of the audit that the fund appears to have been used for its intended purpose and not for purposes of nefarious or ill intent,” Rep. Karen McCormick, a Longmont Democrat, said. “I do see clear evidence of poor practice of record keeping and accounting of the fund, possibly going back years and involving more than one person.”
The bipartisan, five-member ethics committee emphasized that it is possible the caucus had historically poor accounting practices before Lindsay’s tenure, now being brought to light because of Marshall’s complaint. The important thing is to now put guidelines in place, they said.
“It could absolutely be the case that over the course of a decade or more, that whoever has been the caucus chair, they have been sort of cavalier with the money. Maybe that is the norm,” said Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat. “Maybe as it was passed off to Rep. Lindsay, it wasn’t super serious and maybe leadership didn’t have a set of protocols and say ‘Hey, you’re a fiduciary. This is really serious, track everything.’”
If Lindsay withdraws her request for a hearing, the committee will meet once more to write a final report and discuss any recommendations they have for House leadership.