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Investigation continues to determine if a crime was committed in Mesa County security breach

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Posted at 8:09 PM, Aug 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-12 07:44:55-04

MESA COUNTY, Colo. — The Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office will be answering to the Secretary of State in the coming days as an investigation into a security breach of the county's voting system continues.

The Mesa County District Attorney is also investigating for any criminal wrongdoing, executing a search warrant to the recorder's office Tuesday.

"We discovered last week that some confidential passwords were posted to the internet by some renowned conspiracy theorists," Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold told Denver7 Tuesday.

Griswold said she believes the passwords were filmed in May, which are the codes to voting equipment in the recorder's office.

With the password, "you could change settings for example, you could take screenshots, you can really pull out information to try to undermine confidence in the voting equipment itself," Griswold explained.

That's one reason the county's district attorney, Dan Rubinstein, got involved.

"The Secretary of State is looking at the procedures, the protocols, the security that leads them to be able to certify that the elections equipment, voting equipment is safe and secure," Rubinstein said. "My investigation really has nothing to do with that. It does involve whatever act may have been compromised, and to determine whether or not there is any criminal law violations and who is responsible."

In the meantime, Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters was not present when officials showed up at her office Tuesday. Instead, she was a featured speaker at an election symposium sponsored by "My Pillow" magnate Mike Lindell, where she casted her doubts regarding the investigation into her office.

"I don't know what they did, I don't know what they did, but I can tell you that I don't trust them," Peters said at the symposium.

Colorado's elections have been audited and no widespread fraud has been found.

Both Rubinstein and Griswold confirm that no security breaches occurred during an election period in Mesa County.

It is unclear how long their investigation will last.

Griswold will hold a press conference on Thursday at 11 a.m. to provide an update on the ongoing investigation. The press conference will be streamed live on the Denver7+ app, Denver7’s social media pages and website.