Ex-judicial watchdog claims Colorado's top officials conspired against him

(CN) — An attorney who used to run Colorado’s judicial watchdog agency claims the state’s Supreme Court justices, attorney general and governor covered up a multimillion-dollar contract scheme and punished him when he tried to expose it.

Christopher Gregory, former executive director of the Colorado Commission on Judicial Discipline, filed the federal lawsuit Thursday naming several dozen officials in what he calls a six-year conspiracy. The complaint centers on a financial scandal involving Mindy Masias, who was chief of staff at the State Court Administrator’s Office.

“For more than six years, the Justices of the Colorado Supreme Court have engaged in a conspiracy intended to absolve themselves of any accountability for their proven and otherwise incontrovertible violations of various criminal laws and the Colorado Code of Judicial Conduct,” Gregory writes in his complaint.

Gregory says he was removed from his position after trying to hold the Supreme Court justices accountable. He claims he repeatedly submitted public comments and proposed rule changes, warning that officials’ efforts to block his filings violated his rights. According to Gregory, the justices and other officials ignored his warnings, censored his work and refused to recuse themselves from reviewing his complaints.

Gregory also asserts that he faced harassment, intimidation, and roadblocks that blocked his claims related to Masias. He says this coordinated suppression and hostile work environment ultimately led to his removal from the commission in January 2024.

“Part of the justices’ scheme to suppress evidence of their substantial criminal and ethical misconduct has been to intimidate and retaliate, as well as to use public funds," he says.

Gregory claims that the trouble began in 2019 when Masias was facing termination over financial problems. He asserts state auditors found that Masias and another official collected speaking and consulting fees while on state time and approved an unusually large separation settlement to an employee with knowledge of damaging information against them.

He said that auditors found officials attempting to ensure Masias would be granted a $2.66 million to $2.75 million contract for training services as she departed her job— reportedly to prevent a discrimination lawsuit. The contract was later cancelled after media reporting, and no payment was made to Masias.

Gregory claims that officials deliberately hid material information about the scheme from the Colorado Office of the State Auditor while it performed a continuing statewide audit.

The auditors office’s executive summary published in February 2022 described the Masias-related payments as “occupational fraud” and referred the matter to law-enforcement for possible prosecution. While the summary did not result in publicly announced criminal convictions, Gregory claims the delay and non-prosecution were part of the cover-up.

A separate investigation commissioned by the Judicial Department found no contract-for-silence and determined that then-Chief Justice Nathan Coats simply lacked adequate control of the department. Coats became the highest-ranking Colorado judge ever disciplined when the Colorado Supreme Court censured him in 2023 for his role in approving the disputed contract.

In his lawsuit, Gregory names all seven justices of the Colorado Supreme Court; Monica Márquez, Brian Boatright, William Hood III, Richard Gabriel, Melissa Hart, Carlos Samour Jr, Maria Berkenkotter — along with the now-retired Coats, Attorney General Phil Weiser, Deputy Attorney General Natalie Hanlon‑Leh, Governor Jared Polis and dozens of other officials.

Gregory is representing himself along with Brighton, Colorado, attorney Ingrid DeFranco. He claims that he continues to face retaliation to this day.

“Plaintiff has continued to seek accountability for the Justices misconduct, including their misuse of millions of dollars of taxpayer funds, the retaliation campaign against him has continued," he writes.

Representatives for Gregory, the Colorado Supreme Court and the governor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

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