The Denver Post: Colorado Judicial Department officials were so intent on keeping the lid on a $2.5 million contract going to its former chief of staff in early 2019 that they ran an internal ruse about how a retiring judge was actually the targeted recipient, according to several people close to the events.

The department awarded Mindy Masias the five-year contract for judicial training in June 2019, allegedly to avoid a sexual discrimination lawsuit in which she threatened to reveal misconduct by several male judges and department officials, The Denver Post has reported. Masias at the time faced firing because of financial irregularities but instead had been on personal medical leave for months. The contract was canceled amid the newspaper’s investigation into the deal.

The contract and the misconduct allegations are at the center of three investigations.

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