Nick Coltrain

@coltrain.bsky.social

Denver Post politics reporter

Today in Colorado public records: District Court will not email an arrest affidavit for a Department of Corrections officer accused of child sexual exploitation because the court clerk is concerned about the security of email. Fax or USPS only. So anyway, here's what a fax looks like the big 2026

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Amid President Trump’s campaign to release Tina Peters from a Colorado prison last year, a White House aide summoned several agency officials to a meeting to discuss ideas for actions that could be taken against the state. Then came the cuts, vetoes and closures: www.denverpost.com/2026/08/14/c...

‘Smoking gun’ email shows White House summoned agencies to Colorado-focused meeting amid Tina Peters furor

A Trump assistant asked officials from five agencies to join a call “prepared to discuss immediate actions that your department or agency can take with respect to Colorado.”

denverpost.com

An attorney for Colorado called the email a “smoking gun”: In the days that followed, agencies summoned to the meeting announced adverse actions against the state, canceling hundreds of millions in funding and moving to close Boulder's renowned NCAR lab, @sethklamann.bsky.social reports

‘Smoking gun’ email shows White House summoned agencies to Colorado-focused meeting amid Tina Peters furor

A Trump assistant asked officials from five agencies to join a call “prepared to discuss immediate actions that your department or agency can take with respect to Colorado.”

denverpost.com

Delvin Rodriguez was found unresponsive in one of the nation’s largest detention centers late last year. The Colorado immigrant died despite agreeing to leave the country weeks before & despite being placed in a cell so guards could observe him at all times: www.denverpost.com/2026/07/19/c...

Family searches for answers after Colorado immigrant dies in Mississippi detention center

“How does it happen in the middle of the day, especially when it sounds like staff did some kind of intervention (the day before)?” immigrant-rights advocate Alex Sánchez said.

denverpost.com

The Denver Post, The New York Times and other media outlets are asking for “serious sanctions” against OpenAI, saying the company destroyed evidence and intentionally hid its ability to locate stolen news stories in training data and responses to ChatGPT users

The Denver Post seeks ‘serious sanctions’ against OpenAI as deception alleged in copyright lawsuit

“This motion asks the court to punish OpenAI for hiding and destroying evidence showing how ChatGPT was trained on stolen journalism.”

denverpost.com

INBOX: DeGette concedes in CD1 primary, congratulating Melat Kiros for her win. "Frankly, this was not the way I would have wanted to end my career in politics, but I'm proud of my accomplishments," she wrote.

Since 2022, $2.5 million has been spent on Dem primary races in central Denver's HD6, mostly from dark-money groups backing more moderate candidates. Voters have noticed: “It’s scary, right now, to think that we’re going to waste that money, at this time, on these stupid attacks."(Gift link)

A costly, scorched-earth Denver primary reflects the fight over the Democratic Party’s direction. But voters want it to stop.

“I’m probably going to vote no matter what. But (the spending) has me more cynical. This campaign has just become about the money,” said Zach Robertson, who lives in Denver’s Uptown neighborhood.

denverpost.com

Hello! I’m writing a story about the Democratic primary campaigns in Denver, particularly HD6 (Camacho vs. Halpern) and SD34 (Carrera vs. Irlando). Do YOU live in either of those districts, and would you like to talk to me for my story? Reach out! I’m at sklamann@denverpost.com.

Big changes coming to the University of Denver, which, after facing a $30 million deficit, is closing departments and merging schools. They won't say how many jobs will be cut, but 9% of faculty already “voluntarily chose to conclude their service” via buyouts, @lizzy-hernandez.bsky.social reports

University of Denver to close departments, merge schools as part of academic restructuring

Officials at the private university declined to say how much money the restructuring will save.

denverpost.com

"The loss of a primary source of income, coupled with the federal government’s efforts to keep many immigrants indefinitely detained, has spurred families like Cecilia’s — and detainees like her husband — to stop fighting and leave the country." // Story by @sethklamann.bsky.social

With no options left, a Venezuelan family living in Colorado walks into ICE custody, seeking to go back home

Cecilia’s husband had vanished into a Centennial ICE field office during an appointment. Now she and her children were preparing to surrender there, too, for a voluntary departure back to Venezuela.

denverpost.com

Tina Peters’ lawyer told us today that she wasn’t expressing contrition for her crimes and that she was unjustly targeted by a “globalist judge” in a “captured state,” as VP Vance said Peters should qualify for a share of the DOJ’s new $1.77 billion settlement fund:

The Denver Post@denverpost.com · 3mo ago

Hundreds of Colorado Democratic elected officials, volunteers and voters have asked the state party to formally censure Gov. Jared Polis over his decision to commute Tina Peters’ prison term.

Important note. This year, Polis asked the legislature — which was in the midst of cutting $1.5 billion — for tens of millions to build a new prison. He’s also refused to release 11 inmates who’ve completed their release programs and are only waiting on Polis to free them. bsky.app/profile/burn...

Alex Burness@burness.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Will just reiterate that in the many years I covered Polis closely, he never showed particular interest in the topic of over-sentencing, nor in criminal justice reform generally. This decision would read a lot differently if Polis had any sort of record as an advocate for clemency.