A Republican state House member has filed a campaign finance complaint against a colleague, alleging thousands of dollars in illegal transactions using campaign funds.

Rep. Brandi Bradley, a Littleton Republican, filed the complaint against Rep. Ron Weinberg, a Loveland Republican, with the secretary of state’s office Friday.

In the complaint, Bradley wrote that a social media account “made (her) aware of the gross negligence and the vast violations. An account on X with the handle @govtgrifters, which regularly posts about Colorado lawmakers’ spending, posted screenshots of expenditures included in Bradley’s complaint July 1.

Image

The complaint details expenditures as reported by Weinberg in required regular disclosures to the secretary of state’s office, including over $1,000 for various trips to a Loveland barbershop, about $2,500 to the University Club near the Colorado Capitol for meeting expenses, about $400 to a New Jersey cigar shop categorized as gifts and donations, about $675 at the Brown Palace hotel in Denver on the last day of this year’s legislative session, and about $2,000 as a donation to the Israeli soccer team Maccabi Tel-Aviv Football Club.

Bradley also listed donations to the Salvation Army, Sertoma Club of Loveland and Loveland Rotary Club.

Weinberg did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Colorado campaign finance law dictates that campaign funds should only be used for expenditures “reasonably related” to the election of the candidate in question or related to their official duties once elected. Unexpended contributions can be sent to a political party, donated to a charity, returned to the donor, used for political issue education or used for a campaign for a different office. Many of the expenditures in question are listed as meeting expenses or donations.

Bradley alleged that the donation to the Israeli soccer team violated both state and federal law. The club has a foundational arm, however, that runs programs for at-risk and special needs children, and Weinberg’s expenditure lists the address that the foundation recommends donors send checks to.

The secretary of state’s office has 10 days to review the initial complaint and dismiss it, allow Weinberg to cure the violations, or decide to do a deeper investigation.