State Auditor Joanne Hill is pursuing an investigation into press leaks that occurred during her department’s audit of University of Colorado Foundation finances, her spokeswoman said.
Though the report was not officially made public by the Legislative Audit Committee until Tuesday morning, bits and pieces of it made it into the news media before then.
Revealing the results of a state audit before its official release is a misdemeanor offense under state law. Committee chairman Val Vigil, D-Thornton, said it was a serious violation. Vigil’s committee has subpoena power and will be working closely with state auditors, said Karen Hoover, Hill’s spokeswoman.
Everyone who had access to the audit report before its release will be included in the investigation, Hoover said.
She said she believed it was more likely that the leak happened at the University of Colorado or the CU Foundation than in Hill’s office.
“No one on our staff would ever do that,” she said. “There’s just no way. It would be grounds for immediate dismissal. But we will investigate everyone that was involved in the audit.”
Hoover could not recall “a leak like this, of this magnitude,” happening before, she said.
Media interest in CU’s affairs has led to previous calls to investigate leaks.
In May, Denver Judge H. Jeffrey Bayless ordered an investigation into the press leaks of secret grand jury information.
With an audit of CU’s football program ongoing, the university hopes Hill’s investigation will deter more leaks, university spokeswoman Michele McKinney said.
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
