A group of Colorado lawmakers met Wednesday morning to begin the process of reviewing an ethics complaint against Representative Mandy Lindsay, the second complaint against a representative reviewed by the House Ethics Committee this session.

Lindsay, an Aurora Democrat, faces allegations from Representative Bob Marshall, a Highlands Ranch Democrat, that she mismanaged party caucus money and inappropriately reimbursed herself using that account.

She is the co-chair of the House Democratic caucus.

“Lindsay grossly mismanaged and frequently used the fund for personal use in an unethical and potentially criminal manner, with funds unaccounted for by appropriate receipts or with any other basic and fundamental fiscal measures one would expect of a person in the exercise of fiduciary duties required by such a role and office,” Marshall wrote in his ethics complaint, dated Jan. 26 and addressed to House leadership.

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The complaint has three allegations. The first is that Lindsay “laundered” money through the caucus fund by paying $2,500 in dues from her campaign donations, then issuing a check from the caucus account to her personal bank account.

Lindsay repaid that $2,500 back into the caucus bank account in April 2025 after being “confronted” by Representative Junie Joseph, the other caucus co-chair, according to the complaint.

The second allegation is that Lindsay wrongly reimbursed herself over $6,300 following a caucus retreat in November 2024. She wrote herself a check as reimbursement for retreat expenses, but the caucus debit card already paid that exact amount to the hotel where Democrats gathered.

“Lindsay claimed that the amount was actually the amount owed to her for dozens of caucus expenses she had personally paid,” Marshall wrote.

Instead of receipts, she organized those personal expenses on a series of sticky notes, labeled with amounts and descriptions, including approximately $53 for a Safeway trip and $160 spent at Walmart, according to a photo included in the complaint. The photo does not show the entire board, but the visible notes of expenses add up to about $5,600.

Last summer, the Colorado Democratic Party did a financial review of the caucus funds and found that the account was used properly but that there are “several internal control gaps,” namely the absence of a structured reimbursement process.

“The intent matters immensely here,” said Representative Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat. “Mismanagement and not being organized would not, to me, violate any ethical standard if you’re just bad at keeping records.”

The third allegation is that Lindsay used the caucus debit card to pay for a hotel in Portland on a personal trip. Marshall wrote that Lindsay admitted that the charge was accidental.

“For the committee’s discussion, with all those terms (in the complaint) — gross mismanagement, extreme negligence — are these things considered unethical in this framework, or are we potentially looking at incompetence?” said committee chair Representative Karen McCormick, a Longmont Democrat.

On Wednesday, ethics committee members spoke about various evidence for staff to collect related to the complaint, including financial statements, email communications and legal definitions of terms Marshall used. They will then meet to determine whether there is probable cause to support the complaint. If there is probable cause, Lindsay would be able to request an evidentiary hearing. Lindsay is also able to submit a written answer to the complaint.

After a formal hearing, the committee would have authority to recommend actions like a letter of reprimand or censure.

“I respect the ethics committee, trust in the work they will do and I look forward to the process,” Lindsay wrote in a text message to Colorado Newsline.

The House Ethics Committee wrapped up a review of an ethics complaint against Republican Representative Ron Weinberg in March for, among other things, a pattern of inappropriate sexual remarks to other lawmakers. Because it did not hold a formal evidentiary hearing in those proceedings, the committee was only able to write a formal report and send a letter to chamber leadership. In that letter, they recommended leadership send a letter of admonition to Weinberg that urges sexual harassment training.